20 yr old Ukrainian national, Bohdana Kobalova was returning from Kanpur along with his colleague Maria Ihnatenko, 20, also Ukrainian, event manager Ankit, 34, and Vaibhav Sharma (30). The Ukrainians were in Kanpur to perform in a show.
While returning, Vaibhav, who was driving the Maruti Ertiga, lost control and hit the divider. This resulted in the car losing control and crashing head on with the divider. Due to high speed, the car got mangled badly. Soon villagers came, and others who were travelling stopped to help those inside the mangled car.
Shiv Chauhan and Ajender Chauhan, two TV reporters from Agra, happened to be at the accident spot, as they were travelling in the same direction. They were shocked to see what unfolded. In an interview with Times of India, Shiv said, “All the victims were trapped inside the car. The two Ukrainian women were injured but alive. Kobalova had suffered head injury and was unconscious but Ihnatenko was conscious. We dragged them out along with Sharma, who had died on the spot, and Ankit, who was sitting at the back.”
“While we were dragging them out, an expressway patrol squad arrived in an SUV and cordoned off the area. We asked them to take the injured to hospital, but they told us it was not their job,” Shiv alleged.
“One of the policemen even told us that it was our headache and we shouldn’t bother them. Somehow after getting an internet connection we checked online maps and reached the hospital. By then Kobalova was dead. Meanwhile, a government ambulance reached the accident site and took Ankit as well as Sharma’s body away. This was done only after (we got in touch with) state minister Laxminarayan Chaudhary (who then) called Mathura police,” Ajender added.
Image for representation only.As per a recent report, over 1.46 lakh people died on Indian roads in 2015. This means, one individual dies every 3.6 minutes. The number worsened in 2016. Data reveals India recorded 4,80,652 accidents in 2016 resulting in 1,50,785 deaths. Govt. of India is not only working towards making cars safer, but also looking at other avenues which result in high number of road deaths.
New Delhi government will offer a financial reward to passers-by who escort the injured to hospital. Good Samaritans will be rewarded Rs 2,000 rupee for their duty towards society along with a certificate of “good character.” The effort to incentivize the good deed is aimed to reduce road accident deaths so doctors can make the most of the ‘golden hour’, i.e., the moments immediately after an injury, which are crucial to determining life and death.
Surprisingly, most die due to negligence, be it driver or pedestrian, but a considerable number of people also die because they did not receive medical attention in time. As is seen in the case above.
There have been cases where people are seen bleeding on the road post a crash, but no one will come forward to take them to a nearby hospital. Those who want to help, the most they will do is either call cops or a hospital. But there will hardly be anyone who will come forward and take the crash victims to a hospital where they could receive medical attention.
It is difficult for ambulances to reach to accident site in time, especially if its on a highway where the number of hospitals are few. Thus it is important if people who are at the scene of the accident come forward and take the victims to a nearby hospital.
The case of the Ukrainian above, is shocking because this time there were Good Samaritans who were running from pillar to post to get help, but it is the authorities who let them down.
There are laws in place to help accident victims. In fact, Karnataka was the first state to legislate a state law for the protection of people who help road accident victims. This historic decision taken by the Karnataka Government will put an end to the fear of police harassment, hospital detention, and repeated court appearances that bystanders have in helping victims of road crashes and other emergency situations.
India registers highest number of road accident related deaths in the world. More than 400 people die on Indian roads every day due to accidents.In addition to this, Govt. of India has approved the proposal to take action against such drivers who refuse to take accident victims to hospital. Such drivers could be jailed for a term of 6 months or fined upto INR 2,000.
Apart from this, under the new proposal which has now been approved, road fines will go as high as INR 10,000 or two years jail. On the spot suspension of driving license has also been approved for offences like dangerous driving, speeding, using mobile phone while driving / riding, jumping signals, not wearing helmet or drunk driving.
In Delhi, these new rules have already been implemented. In the last six months, over 3 lakh driving licenses have been suspended. Hopefully, these rules will bring road sense and driving manners to Indian roads.
