In April this year, a shocking scene in the Mahadevapura area of Bengaluru put into question road safety and the roles of staff members in auto showrooms. A man who was allegedly intoxicated caused several accidents while on a test drive, the commission said.
Abhilash, the name of the accused, has a part in the incident that occurred in Vigneshwara Nagar on April 12th he allegedly went to a showroom of Mahindra & Mahindra to purchase a car. As it stands, even though he was supposedly drunk, he was shown and then accepted by the showroom personnel to pull a vehicle out for a test drive.
What ensued was a string of crashes that resulted in panic around the area here. During the road drive, Abhilash seems to have lost control of his vehicle and crashed into at least four vehicles, inflicting significant road damage. Witnesses saw the cars clump up as they collided with one another repeatedly. He, a man named Ramesh, broke his leg: a very serious injury.
The accident also brought him urgently to a nearby private hospital very soon after--where, by now, he was undergoing treatment. His health is now stable, though possibly including longer stays in hospital, according to medical reports. Following the accident, animosity hardened, and angry residents gathered in the area in line.
Abhilash is said to have been beaten by onlookers and angry people for the damage caused and for the pain inflicted on the victims, as the reports told ABC. He is also injured and has been cared for by the police at a hospital. An immediate Mahadevapura Traffic Police arrived and did a check-in-depth.
A case has been lodged against the accused driver based on the relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Indian Motor Vehicles Act for reckless driving that has put both self-harm and civil safety at risk. And the key to the inquiry isn’t limited to the driver.
Investigators are also testing whether showroom staff approved the test drive. That left the question of whether, when handing the car over after someone was accused of being inebriated, proper checks were carried out. The episode spotlighted a national problem in automotive retail accountability.
Experts felt showrooms have to protect the public from risky situations such as this life-threatening scenario, and therefore must impose strict protocols, verify the driver’s status, and verify his sobriety before allowing others the opportunity to test drive.
Police may go through videotaped footage of the incident, obtain witnesses’ testimonies about the incident and attempt to determine whether the negligent behaviour of the showroom’s personnel resulted in the incident in the course of the investigation. This case is very sad to most of our youth, as well as drunk drivers, and what to do to drive sober and keep them safe on the road.
