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Wednesday, December 13, 2006
MAN AND MACHINE
Mumbai: Car mows down six
The repeated incidents in Mumbai of cars mowing down pavement dwellers need serious brainstorming as to who are the culprits. Is it the driver or the pavement dwellers or the existing safety system of Mumbai?
Why does our media always cudgel against the rich? Why hate the rich? They worked hard to become so.
I'm not championing the cause of drunken driving, nor am I commenting on the specifics of the case - but the media seems to have taken a very 'socialist' stance and prejudged the case.
* mechanical failures happen
* drivers make mistakes - these are called 'accidents'
* if people live on pavements, or just off the road, these accidents can turn very expensive.
City planners and administrators are equally responsible for this - or are accidents never supposed to happen ? Then why have seatbelts, airbags etc ? Should we design/plan/enforce laws for some tolerance for errors/mishaps ?
Letting people live so easily on roadsides is a bigger issue - jumping on the throat of drivers - not all of whom may be drunk or speeding irresponsibly - just distracts from real responsibility.
The pavement is a public place and not a private residence. The workers had no business to sleep on the pavement. While one sympathizes with the homeless, it is the Sate of Maharashtra which ought to be held accountable.
The true beneficiaries will be the cops. They have 6 months to file a charge sheet and commerce will happen. Thereafter, if the kids play it right the case can linger for several decades!!
posted by Tanay Sai at
11:56 am
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