CCTV visuals.
Credit: Special arrangement
Bengaluru: Late-night drunk driving unleashed terror on Indiranagar’s 100 Feet Road on Thursday, as a car jumped a divider and crashed into a restaurant wall, narrowly missing a group of pedestrians.
The incident, which occurred around 11.35 pm, left a 25-year-old motorcyclist injured and sent shockwaves through one of the city’s busiest nightlife hubs. The Jeevan Beema Nagar traffic police have arrested the driver, Derrick Tony (42).
CCTV footage of the accident, which has since gone viral, shows the Skoda Slavia car hurtling at high speed from 18th Main towards 100 Feet Road. While attempting to negotiate a turn, Tony reportedly lost control of the steering. The vehicle mounted the median, crossed onto the opposite lane, and struck a two-wheeler before slamming into the exterior wall of the Barbeque Nation restaurant.
CCTV footage of the accident, which has since gone viral, shows the Skoda Slavia car hurtling at high speed from 18th Main towards 100 Feet Road.
Credit: Special arrangement
A group of diners standing just outside the restaurant entrance escaped death by a hair’s breadth. "One moment we were talking, and the next, a car was flying toward us. We jumped back just in time," said a witness who was part of the group.
The motorcyclist, identified as Jabir Ahmed, was knocked off his vehicle by the impact. Passersby and local auto-rickshaw drivers rushed to his aid. Ahmed sustained minor injuries and was shifted to a nearby private hospital.
"He (the driver) came out of nowhere. The speed was so high that if the restaurant wall hadn't stopped the car, it would have ploughed through the entire footpath," said a rider who witnessed the crash.
Preliminary investigations and a breathalyser test confirmed that Tony was driving under the influence of alcohol. "The suspect was intoxicated and was driving well above the speed limit in a high-pedestrian zone," a senior traffic police official stated.
The impact was so severe that the car's airbags deployed, which saved Tony from serious injury.
The JB Nagar traffic police have booked him under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Motor Vehicles Act for dangerous driving and driving under the influence.