‘Cyclists, pedestrians killed in accidents were also offenders’

NCRB DATA
Ludhiana: As per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, most of the cyclists and pedestrians who have lost their lives in road accidents in Ludhiana were also offenders of traffic and road safety rules, though their offences have not been specified.
As per the data categorised under mode of transport, from 2017 to 2019, as many as 64 pedestrians and eight cyclists died in road accidents in Ludhiana city.All these deceased have been categorised as offenders too, which means they caused the accident.
In 2016, as many as 40 pedestrians had died and 35 were shown as victims and five as offenders. Two cyclists had died, of which one was an offender. In 2017, as many as 24 pedestrians died in road accidents in Ludhiana, all categorised as offenders, which was the highest among 89 cities, followed by 21 in Ranchi, 13 in Patna and nine in Vasai Virar. In the year, one cyclist died who was also the offender.
In 2018, as many as 26 pedestrians died in Ludhiana who all were offenders too, which was also the highest among 89 cities, followed by 21 in Ranchi, 15 in Patna, 10 in Mumbai. In this year, too, one cyclist died who was also the offender.
In 2019, 14 pedestrians and six cyclists died and all were shown as offenders. In offenders’ category, Ludhiana is at number five among 89 cities, as in Chennai 43 cyclists died, in Jabalpur 14, Dhanbad 12 and Madurai eight.
Road safety expert Kamaljit Soi said, “The offenders meaning here is people who violated the traffic rules, be it jumping red-light, crossing over the road medians, among others. However, the offences of the people have not been specified, so I find it vague. I believe this is a case of poor investigation, whereby the authorities have shown the deceased as an offender and helped the real culprit. How can all the pedestrians and cyclists who died in road accidents be offenders especially when their offence has not been specified?”
Resident of Jodhewal KL Chopra said, “Even if we say that a pedestrian or a cyclist has died because of his fault, it should be checked where he erred. I live near Ludhiana-Amritsar national highway and see pedestrians and cyclists crossing the roads over medians as there is no overbridge for them to cross the highway. Moreover, the Ludhiana roads have no separate lanes for cyclists and pedestrians.”
Compensation to victims
Kamaljit Soi said, “As per the Motor Vehicle Amendment Bill, any person who has got injured in a road accident can get Rs 50,000 compensation and Rs 2 lakh is given to the family of the deceased by the deputy commissioner. They just have to submit the FIR copy, autopsy report and insurance of the vehicle with Aadhaar card within 30 days of the accident. Besides, if the lone breadwinner of a family has died, they can get a compensation of Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore through the Motor Accident Case Tribunal.”