Youth drives wrong side, injures woman

Nagpur: Reckless driving seems to be the norm on city roads. Mishaps are on the rise as traffic violators are going scot-free. In one such case Thursday morning, a helmetless youth Himanshu Waghmare, while riding on the wrong side, injured a woman near Old Katol Naka Chowk. The youth attempted to flee but alert passers-by caught him after a two kilometre chase.
The incident has exposed traffic police’s failure to curtail helmetless driving.The incidents of wrong side driving are on the rise posing danger to the oncoming riders. Traffic police have been conducting drives against helmetless riders and imposing fine but not in a very effective way. Though many two-wheeler riders have started using helmets, a large number of riders are yet to fall in line. When these riders spot traffic police nabbing helmetless drivers, they immediately turn around and drive back on the wrong side to avoid being caught.
TOI has spotted many riders taking the wrong side to evade police action. On Thursday morning, near Police headquaters lake, when the policemen were penalizing helmetless riders, some citizens drove on the wrong side to avoid penalty. Helmetless Himanshu was among the riders who wanted to evade police action. He hit pedestrian Mamta Barai who sustained serious injuries and was rushed to a private hospital on Koradi road.
In the chaos, injured Himanshu tried to flee but citizens chased him for about two kilometres and nabbed him.
DCP (traffic) Smartana Patil said, “To avoid such mishaps and nab those driving on the wrong side, additional staff will be deployed at a few hundred metres around the area where the drive is being conducted.”
Sharing his experience, social activist Avinash Prabhune said, “At the Koradi octroi check post, I have witnessed such incidents many times. Just to avoid penalty, riders turn around and take the wrong side and drive back at a high speed on the national highway. It is an open invitation to a major accident.”