[amit]

All of us remember the Carter road accident where a speeding Toyota ran over some pavement dwellers killing them instantly. That incident sparked off a huge debate all over the media. Two things made the accident a horrendous crime. One, that the driver was drunk and two, that all the occupants were "rich spoilt brats" with no respect for the law and for the lives of 'poor' people. Amazingly, everyone forgot that the pavement dwellers shouldn't have been sleeping there in the first place.

A speeding taxi killed two pavement dwellers, including a 6 month old baby and injured four in dongri, Mumbai at 2.30 am. Will this case, which IMO, is as bad as the carter road accident make news? No it wouldn't because the driver was also a "poor" hardworking guy and wasn't drunk either. The taxi driver said that he couldn't see the people sleeping on the P D'mello road and as a driver I totally agree with him.

After all the media hype which included the police commissioner coming on news channels and talk shows promising stern action and better management of the roads, people are still sleeping on the roads. What has changed since the Bandra accident? What lessons did the authorities learn from the Carter road accident? Did the authorities WANT to learn anything from that accident? The ideal solution is not to have people sleep on the roads but this is India and decades of poverty can't be eradicated with a few years of economic boom. Still the only solution is to not have people sleep on the roads or on the pavements. That is the only way to stop such accidents from happening.

Full Story: Indian Express.

[esteem_lover]

What !!!! again !!!!!

But why do mumbai cars prefer the pavement to the road ? that too only in the nights.

[Godfather]

Originally Posted by amit

Amazingly, everyone forgot that the pavement dwellers shouldn't have been sleeping there in the first place.

Is this an excuse.. Where else will the homeless people go??
and even if they are sleeping on the pavement...you are forgetting that cars are meant to be driven on roads..not pavements...

No Offence to anyone here..

Godfather

[v1p3r]

Originally Posted by Godfather

Is this an excuse.. Where else will the homeless people go??
and even if they are sleeping on the pavement...you are forgetting that cars are meant to be driven on roads..not pavements...

But you must remember, atleast in the old Corolla case, the pavement dwellers were actually migrant labour from AP, who were brought in by the BMC (or whatever they're called) for some road work. If the govt employs them, they had better ensure that they give them living space as well.

[johy]

The next thing I know I will be run over while walking the pavements. Worst, when I am on the footpaths - we have very little pavement in any case.

Yes, people should not be sleeping on the pavements (neither should there be tea stalls there or dogs), but it is definitely not a place to drive your car and then claim "you did not see them." Drivers (me included) should remember that the pavements are for pedestrians exclusively. I have no right to take my wheels there -- with or without folks sleeping on them.

[amit]

What you people forget is that pavement dwellers may live on the pavements but many times they sleep on the roads. Drive into Chembur to see this. Just outside the BPGC, you will see a number of people living in shanties on the side of the road. Many of them sleep on the road with black blankets covering them!

it is definitely not a place to drive your car and then claim "you did not see them."

I few months back I was driving towards Chembur from Vashi at 9.30 PM and exited Palm Beach road towards Center One mall. There is a small opening by the side of the road that takes you towards the mall and Vashi station. On that road the center divider is pretty high. For my good luck, that day, I was driving in the middle lane. Suddenly I see a dark skinned kid fall from the center divider right into the right most lane on the road! Trust me, it wasn't easy spotting someone like that appear/fall so suddenly on the road. What if he was run over at that time? Would it be the drivers fault? Driving past, I glimpsed over into the divider and saw that there were two kids playing there. They were probably part of a family working in the construction of a office building opposite to the mall. Night driving isn't easy, especially in India. I wouldn't say that not being able to spot them was an excuse.

Is this an excuse.. Where else will the homeless people go??

Read my full post specially the last few lines.

While some people went to the extent of demanding that the "rich brats" be hanged for that accident, not a single soul demanded that the BMC and their contractors be taken to task for flouting the law and rules. IMO the BMC (engineer in charge of that work) and their contractor should have been arrested and had cases filed against them too. For the taxi driver's good luck, he isn't a celebrity and neither was he driving a "swanky" car. No wonder this news didn't make headlines and didn't qualify as breaking news. In any other country, the BMC would have had to pay through their noses for such negligence but in India, it's only car owners that are at fault. So called poor people and the government are all angels.

[v1p3r]

Originally Posted by johy

Drivers (me included) should remember that the pavements are for pedestrians exclusively. I have no right to take my wheels there -- with or without folks sleeping on them.

It's called an accident. No one is aiming to drive on the pavement deliberately.

[johy]

Originally Posted by amit

Trust me, it wasn't easy spotting someone like that appear/fall so suddenly on the road. What if he was run over at that time? Would it be the drivers fault?

Yes, I trust you Amit - and had he been run over - no fault of the driver. The kid had no business to be there.

I guess pavement dwellers are one of the many downsides of poverty in our country. At least stay off the roads! And while anyone does anything about it, please do something about the cows, the pigs, and the dogs! Keep the roads for cars, trucks, two wheelers, and the like - but also keep the pavements for human beings who would like to walk - please don't take your cars there. Or your speedy two wheelers. Doing that, if you do not succeed in killing somebody who is asleep (culpable homicide not amounting to murder -- isn't that what we call it?), you will surely do it to a poor soul walking there.

[Equus]

I am sorry but the Driver too had NO business to be on the pavement..

[johy]

Originally Posted by v1p3r

It's called an accident. No one is aiming to drive on the pavement deliberately.

Yes sir, an accident - we are not a race of blood-thirsty zombies. I do not mean to say that we are pointing our cars there deliberately - oh no. But I would not say that "Look, they had no business to be there, so they got run over." I would not say that - just because it could have happened to a pedestrian standing or walking there.

[normally_crazy]

Originally Posted by johy

Twe have very little pavement in any case.

And now that the govt is widening the roads and providing proper pavements, do we as pedestrians use it ? NO - in fact we are so used to walking in the middle of the roads and playing hide and seek with speeding cars and buses we do not even realise that there is a pavement. Have you seen our BEST bus stops or our ST stands ?? I think people are expected to stand behind the bus stop but we have them spilling over and occupying the left most lane, forcing the buses to stand in the middle and creating a jam.

Forget everything else - nothing can improve here till we as citizens start using our brains and common sense. After all its our safety !

[esteem_lover]

At 2.30 in the morning when the roads are free, the driver had no business to drive on the pavement. He must have fallen asleep or he must have been drunk. No one in his right senses would choose to drive on the pavement.

[Equus]

Originally Posted by johy

Yes sir, an accident - we are not a race of blood-thirsty zombies. I do not mean to say that we are pointing our cars there deliberately - oh no. But I would not say that "Look, they had no business to be there, so they got run over." I would not say that - just because it could have happened to a pedestrian standing or walking there.

Come on. These bloody drivers very well know all the freakin roads and how they are used. They should be hanged.

[v1p3r]

I second n_c. Even educated people in Bangalore just love to walk on the road. You'd be hard pressed to find a road, except Brigade Rd and MG Rd, where the pavement is used to its full potential.

And we know cars have no business being on the pavement. Like they have no business being upside down, or broken down, or pulped. Accidents happen.

[msdivy]

1. Were people sleeping on road?
2. Did taxi driver drive on pavement?
Which is true?