PANJIM: The Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety (SCCoRS), on March 20222, issued clear directions mandating forensic investigation for mass fatal road accidents. This, if done, will be crucial for the police in their investigations into the horrific Banastarim accident that snuffed out three innocent lives and left three others injured.
The big question is was it done? And from eyewitness reports as well as those from O Heraldo reporters who were on the spot immediately after the incident, there was no forensic team that appeared to have secured the vehicles and carrying our forensic investigations.So far there has been no word from the police on this.
O Heraldo had pointedly asked if fingerprints and DNA samples were taken from the bloated airbags of the killer Mercedes SUV. The Director General of Police unfortunately did not address the questions O Heraldo raised with regard to the position of the driver’s seat right next to the steering wheel and the larger issue of securing the vehicle forensically. He said that these issues cannot be discussed and will be shared in Court. He also said he did not know reporter’s (insinuating O Heraldo reporters) possessed the same skills as forensic experts and police investigators.
We are now only pointing out that the Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety (SCCoRS) directions mandates this. This is not a choice, but a direction.
The SCCoRS mandates forensic investigation for mass fatal road accidents which was communicated to all States including Goa through Chief Secretary in March 2022.
It states:
• State should ensure forensic crash investigation under Section 135A of the Motor Vehicle Act for all mass fatal crashes in every district.
•The development of a district road safety plan.
• Optimal placements of ambulances to help improve response time and handover time to hospitals.
• Having adequate availability of different ambulance types as per historic caseload in the district are other directions given to States by SCCoRS.
• Prepare an Emergency Medical Plan (EMP) for mass fatal accidents to ensure linkage between hospitals and ambulances.
If at all done, it would have helped identify driver of killer Mercedes SUV and determine vehicle’s speed backed by scientific evidence. It could have proved crucial in providing speedy justice to the victims. At the very least the families of the victims of this horrific accident deserve to know if the police has prepared for justice to be finally given to them or not.
