Today’s Hindu has an article titled. “Rogue bikers sow panic on the roads”, which also recounts that three people died in road accidents on Sunday. The bikers, silencers removed, apparently ride at break neck speeds through Adyar, Greenways Road, Santhome High Road and Kamarajar Salai.

My hypothesis is that, since the traffic police show no signs of upholding the rules of the road, there is now no regard for any sort of consequences for these riders. Even the description of the accidents in which three people died makes it clear that these accidents seem to be due to negligent driving.

The Hindu article states that, in the first fatality in Ambattur, a vehicle hit Nandhakumar as he was riding a two wheeler, killing him instantly. The second is worse, a two wheeler was hit by a vehicle going in the opposite direction. The third is terrible. According to the police, a bus hit a two wheeler ahead of it, throwing the rider off so that he went under the wheels of the bus.

On the face of it, these were not quite ‘accidents’ made out of human error, but resulted due to rash and negligent driving. I don’t know what happened in Ambattur, but to hit an oncoming two wheeler head on takes some doing. As for the bus, how many times have we come across buses that raise their engines and come within inches of two wheelers ahead of them (especially if ridden by a woman) to scare them out of the way?

Spreading awareness of road rules, sensitizing everyone (us included!) as to the importance of following rules apart, when are the police going to take responsibility for the dreadful state of the traffic in this city? And for the growing number of fatalities? Whether they like it or not, they are responsible not just for regulating traffic so that it keeps moving, but ensuring the safety of road users. The sooner they realize this, the better for everyone.