High-income ride but street-level manner

People with deep pockets who buy speedy machines must learn to drive safely

Speed thrills, but kills’ rings true in certain cases, such as the accident in Greater Kailash last week when a 26-year-old real estate businessman was killed.

Anukul Rishi lost control over his Lamborghini car and crashed into the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor. The accident also left a cyclist paralysed for life. Tests are underway to find out whether Anukul was driving under the influence of alcohol.

The accident also adds to the long list of high-income people crashing their expensive vehicles due to speeding and possibly drunk driving. Either way, their irresponsible acts result in the death or injuries to innocent people on the road.

The most infamous accident was the BMW hit-and-run case involving Sanjeev Nanda. Nanda, a businessman, was returning home from a late-night party in Gurgaon with his friends when he drove his car at high speed through a police checkpoint on Lodhi Road on January 10, 1999. He mowed down six persons, including three policemen.

A court had first charged him with culpable homicide and sentenced him to five years, but the term was reduced to two years in 2009.

Another name that figures in the ‘infamous record’ is that of Alister Pereira, who smashed a BMW car onto a pavement in Bandra on November 12, 2006, killing seven persons and injuring eight others — all labourers working on a nearby construction site.

Pereira was driving under the influence of alcohol and was convicted by a sessions court in April 13, 2007. He was sentenced to six months and fined Rs 5 lakh, which was to be paid to the victims.

Not just expensive cars, but high-end motorcycles have been found to be equally dangerous in the hands of ‘irresponsible’ drivers.

Ayazuddin, son of former cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin, sustained critical injuries after his sports motorcycle skidded off a road in Hyderabad in September 2011. He was taken to hospital immediately, where he died after five days.

According to traffic police, considering the increasing number of fatal accidents in the country involving advanced and expensive vehicles, people with deep pockets who want to spend on speedy machines must learn how to drive safely.