Missing on our roads: Real red lights

By any metrics, being on the road in India is a dangerous activity. Deplorable levels of abiding by road rules and idiosyncratic policing have led to such a state of things being normalised. In Delhi alone, 518 people have died in 511 accidents already this year. Along with speeding, driving under the influence (DUI) and 'wrong-side driving', primary causes of road accidents are plain bad driving and anarchic pedestrian behaviour and conditions. The latest 'accident' in Pune involving a reportedly inebriated 17-year-old in a sports car killing two people on a motorbike is yet another addition to this sad, bad and dangerous roster.

Much blame should land at the door of authorities. Maharashtra deputy CM has rightly condemned the Juvenile Justice Board for letting off the guilty with not much of a rap on the knuckles. The minor's 'punishment' was writing a 300-word essay on accidents, working with traffic police for 15 days and undergoing counselling for his drinking. If that serves as a deterrent against driving without a licence and DUI, best of luck to Indian road safety.

But the daisy chain of culpability is long. On paper (read: Motor Vehicles Act), underage driving - one can be eligible for a car licence if one is 18 or above - can result in imprisonment, and the guilty person's parents being fined up to ₹25,000. In practice, some guilty parties get to write a mea culpa essay. Serving liquor to minors has its own set of non-implementation of law. A lax society leads to two things: one, unsafe anarchy to be the nation's default state; and, two, a two-tiered law-and-order system where the well-connected guilty can get away, while the 'regular' guilty serve the purpose of the law enforcement appearing shipshape. Not the ideal recipe for becoming viksit.