Dangerous joyrides

Teenagers of rich parents introduce new terror on roads with reckless driving of their modified cars
Dangerous joyrides and reckless as well as happy-go-lucky driving have become the most common features of the city traffic, exposing innocent pedestrians and commuters to serious accidents every day.
The tragic death of Anima Rani Saha on Dhaka University campus under the wheels of a private car illegally driven by a learner driver on Monday raises serious questions about city traffic and the role of police.
In posh residential areas like Dhanmondi, Lalmatia, Gulshan, Banani, Baridhara, DOHS, Uttara and other places, joyrides in expensive vehicles by rich kids are so common that residents, schoolchildren and law-abiding road users are in constant fear of being crushed.
Several incidents of hit-and-run take place every week in residential areas, according to police and residents. But the victims as well as the low-ranked on-duty policemen, who patrol the streets on foot, are ‘too scared’ to stop the culprits in latest expensive cars to prevent recurrence.
In many cases rich teenagers illegally replace their vehicle’s normal exhaust system with a highly noisy system called “howler” to generate fear for other road users and fun for themselves as they speed through the residential areas in expensive vehicles.
Most have no driver’s licence and many are under-aged to qualify for driving.
There are instances when happy-go-lucky drivers are found driving their vehicles on busy thoroughfares with a child on their lap steering the vehicle. This dangerous and illegal manoeuvre takes place without the slightest respect for the traffic laws.
Accidents involving these reckless youngsters and careless drivers often go unreported.
In one recent case a housewife, a mother of three, while returning home sustained serious injuries when the rickshaw she was travelling in was hit by a hit-and-run joy-rider from behind.
People who witnessed the incident said the driver was a very young man accompanied by four others and played loud music from the car’s modern stereo system. The black Toyota was fitted with a howler and made enormous noise. As the housewife lay on the road by the damaged rickshaw unconscious from the impact, the joy-riders sped off.
Dhanmondi and Gulshan police say most of these kids involved in noisy joyrides in expensive vehicles belong to the top echelon of the society and enjoy some sort of ‘unwritten immunity’ from the law.
Speaking anonymously, a sub-inspector at Gulshan police station said most their officers are always overburdened with various other cases and overlook crimes related to traffic.
“I would not bother about a joy-rider recklessly speeding through Gulshan or a driver seating a kid on his lap. I’m constantly busy protecting the VVIPs in the area,” the SI added.
Shah Alam, officer-in-charge of Dhanmondi police station, had a different story. He said his force is aware of the rising problem with gangs of youths speeding through the residential areas on expensive cars and motorbikes.
“Last week we arrested six youths on powerful motorbikes who were creating public nuisance in the area and prosecuted them,” he said.
Following reports of accidents and public nuisance, all police patrol teams in Dhanmondi have been instructed to clamp down on the joy-riders or any suspicious looking vehicles.
“We arrested several young drivers over the last few days, summoned their parents to the station and asked them to remove the howler exhausts and then released them on cautionary notes and made them sign an undertaking before leaving,” Shah Alam said.
According to the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority and Traffic Department officials, it is forbidden under the Motor Vehicle Ordinance, 1983 to alter any parts of the vehicle without permission from the engineers involved in issuance of fitness certificates.
It is also forbidden to do anything while driving that may distract the driver.

Courtesy of The Daily Star