Team-BHP > Road Safety


Reply
  Search this Thread
44,050 views
Old 23rd July 2010, 00:14   #1
Senior - BHPian
 
jaysmokesleaves's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Mostly Mumbai
Posts: 1,702
Thanked: 1,452 Times
My Experiments With Truth - Road Accident

This is a beautiful story of the pathetic state of affairs of our entire system and how they operate. Read this entire episode, it might help you decide what you would want to do when you have an accident.


about 10 days ago, on a very rainy day at 930 pm i was taking a right turn at crawling speed under a dark flyover in Bombay. I had stopped under the highway flyover to look for any oncoming traffic before engaging first to take a right to hit the highway. I had just released the clutch and the vehicle had barely begun to move when I heard a thud on my right front mudguard and saw a black silouhette of someone fall and then scream.
I immediately stopped, got off and found a street urchin lady fallen on the ground and screaming in pain. Her husband too came out of nowhere( i later found out that they slept under the flyover). I could see blood from the ladys right foot. Since I had stopped and had gotten out of the car, people collected. I asked the man to pick her up and put her in my car and take offered to take her to the clinic about 200 meters from the spot. In the meantime 2 policemen showed up. So i asked them too to jump into the backseat to accompany me to the clinic. They insisted that She should be taken to the govt hospital and not to the clinic. I told them we can do that later but first lets give her first aid at the clinic. Anyways, the cops prevailed and we drove for 30 minutes with the bleeding foot to reach the govt hospital.

How it happened > From the A pillar I could not see her, she was short, wearing black, it was dark and raining. She walked into the right side of my car and stepped in front of the right tire got nudged by the right side mudguard, the tire ran over her foot and she fell down.

SCENE at the hospital:
I made the paperwork at the casualty with the cop and took her to the doctors. The doctors looked utterly disinterested. Anywyas after some shouting they attended to her and referred her for an x ray. i and the cop pushed her trolley to the x ray room and got that done and then came back to the casualty... now waiting for the x ray report.

In the meantime some people had gathered and a few enterprising souls claiming to be from some NGO organization( read as - touts), intervened and insisted that they will handle the matter and I should pay off the injured and no case will be made else there will be trouble.
Well, I refused to entertain them insisting that I am anyways bearing the medical costs and am here personally to ensure the same with the cops.
THey made a few calls and son there was a bunch of 20-30 people from some political party too to add to my pressure.
In the meantime I called a friend who in turn called another friend who sent another unknown person, now a friend for moral support and guidance.

While all this drama was ongoing with the touts, the patient was lying on the trolley, foot bleeding, and 2 hours had passed. I went in and shouted again and the x rays came.

Injury diagnosis ; Injury sustained according to the medical report and actuality = no fractures sustained to any bones in the foot. Deep cuts below the toes required sutures and 10 days rest. No other injuries sustained anywhere on the body.

The best part was that the woman was completely drunk and was fast asleep on the trolley and wouldnt wake up even when the policemen and her husband tried to wake her up. For a while everyone thought she was dead. I asked the doctor to do a blood test. I was told that a blood test can only be conducted if a memo came from the police. The police refused to go to the police station In my car even if i paid them. So no blood could be done. I couldnt do anything about it. They just refused.

Finally 4.5 hours later, the woman was attended to. She was completely drunk and wouldnt wake up. As as the norm goes in Govt hospital, no anesthetic was used. 2 ward boys held her down while the doctor started sewing her. All her nasha was off when he pushed the needle in as if he was sewing a gunny bag. She sat up like a ghost from a horror movie screaming. For the next 10 minutes she was howling away in pain. Finally she was stitched up and a cast was applied to prevent and damage to the bandage and restrict movement.

In the meantime after heavy discussions and my refusal to entertain the touts, they too finally left, realizing that they could not make any money out of me.

After the hospital, myself and the injured went to the police station with the cops. The husband in the meantime after some explaining from the havaldars and discussion with his wife, decided not to press charges if I paid them for the damages and some extra money. We agreed to a sum, the police took signed statements from them that they were mutually setteling the case and did not want to press charges. I paid them, and we all departed.

THE REAL POLICE DRAMA:

The next morning i got a call from the police officer incharge of the case asking me to come to the police station. I went. The husband and wife were there again. The man was completely drunk and demanded more money. I refused and told him to file a case if he wished. After some discussion he backed off. The lady too didnt want to press charges. The police officer however, seemed very eager to press charges. He took the drunk man aside and told him, that if he presses charges, he will get 40k from insurance and his life will be set. He assured him that he will put me behind bars. All this happening in front of my eyes. The cop seemed desperate too. He assured the woman that he would take her and get her admitted in the hospital where she would get good treatment. i told him, that was impossible, because the doctor categorically classified it as non serious and had refused to admit her last night. So I told him to do whatever he liked. He asked me to leave and come with someone to bail me out on surety of 3k in the evening. I went the next morning with a relative and was technically arrested and released on bail for a surety of 3k.
I found out later that the woman was refused admission in the hospital and advised only rest.

My vehicle was impounded for 2 days for mandatory RTO verification.

The case is completely dumb and hopefully and most likely be thrown out when it comes up for hearing.

But the nuisance value of the entire thing is tremendous. There are people waiting behind bars for justice, while cops waste precious govt resource with such goofy cases.
Add to that the purposeful harassment to me for something as stupid as this.

Lesson learnt:

It is not for no reason that there are so many hit and run cases in India.
Even if you be the good Samaritan, the hospitals and the doctors dont care. The police are more interested in making a police case before providing first aid to the victim even if you offer to do your best to help.
The Govt hospitals treat casualty worse than dogs. Its a total waste. People die waiting in the hospital just to get attended to.
The police are only interested in finding ways to make a quick buck.


On hindsight, it was very easy for me to run. And for sure it was so dark that no one would even see the number.
I dont think the next time something like this happens, i will allow myself to think like a civilised cultured human. If I can manage it, I wont turn to look nor stop to think.

Im just so angry with myself for having cared.
The system amuses me no end. All beggars and scum in official uniform. Not that I didnt know, but everytime you cross the systems corrupt highway, you cant help but note.
There really is no hope.
jaysmokesleaves is offline   (22) Thanks
Old 23rd July 2010, 00:24   #2
Senior - BHPian
 
blackasta's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: WB 26
Posts: 3,405
Thanked: 2,916 Times

Sorry to hear about this - but this is India. These kind of things are bound to happen here.
Next time (and I might sound like a criminal) - don't stop.
blackasta is offline  
Old 23rd July 2010, 00:37   #3
Senior - BHPian
 
prince_pervez's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Redwood shores, CA, USA
Posts: 4,210
Thanked: 51 Times

Sorry to hear about the whole ordeal. It is good that you helped that female. Only thing is I feel you should not have allowed the cops to intervene that much. You should have taken the husband and wife to the hospital and cleared off the bill and come off.
prince_pervez is offline  
Old 23rd July 2010, 01:21   #4
Team-BHP Support
 
tsk1979's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: San Jose, CA
Posts: 23,717
Thanked: 22,769 Times

Well such scum run our country. Do not take this for granted. Make sure you attend all hearings. Often such cases drag on and on. And, if such a thing happens again, you now know running is the best policy.
tsk1979 is offline  
Old 23rd July 2010, 01:21   #5
BHPian
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: New Delhi, Milwaukee
Posts: 30
Thanked: 3 Times

Kudos to you! What you did was ethically and humanely right. But I guess there is no appreciation about the right gestures that people do, by the Police. Had I been in your place, I would have thought twice before helping the woman out.

I personally witnessed a chain snatching case and called up my dad's friend in the Police (who I call "Uncle"), to report what I saw. He asked me if I had lost some valuables, if yes, then he'll get it back to me as it's all known to the local police. If not, just let it be.
Vijay.Krishnan is offline  
Old 23rd July 2010, 01:55   #6
Distinguished - BHPian
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: --
Posts: 3,549
Thanked: 7,233 Times

Hi Jay, really sorry to hear about the ordeal.

The exact same thing happened with me in Delhi. This was on Dabri crossing, near Dwarka.

A very smart middle aged man tries to cross the road when it is green for the vehicles. He literally jumps in front of my car. I manage to stop but not before his foor is under the wheel.

Crowd gathers. All rickshaw pullers and daily wagers, they don't even want to hear what you are saying. While I kept saying, let me take him to a hospital, they were singing, "aap ki galti hai" [its your mistake]

Finally some ex-policeman came and got the man in my car. I was about to enter a 'Big' private hospital, this gentleman says, "Sir keep driving, I know a place. You'll be harassed no end here!".

We come upon a small locally run clinic-cum-hospital. The injured man is checked, X-ray and stuff. Nothing much severe, just a few bruises.

In the mean time I had called up my cousin and as soon as he arrived I left the scene. The ex-policaman was a nice chap. Had it not been him, who knows, I would have been in a similar situation as you.

This is exactly why we have so many Hit and runs. Why should one stop when this is how you get treated just coz you happened to 'stop'.

I don't see anything wrong if next time onwards you validate your handle here, jay-smokes-LEAVES!!
Dry Ice is online now  
Old 23rd July 2010, 02:03   #7
Senior - BHPian
 
TaureanBull's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: New Delhi
Posts: 1,071
Thanked: 326 Times

What happened was a very sad incident.

But, I wont advise you to run in case you happen to hit someone what may come. Its inhumane. Imagine it could be other way round, you being hit and someone runs away leaving you half dead. The system has faults, it is corrupt etc etc but we are humans first. Legally speaking, in case you run and by chance get caught later on the case is severe.

I would just term it as a bad time/day which was handled very maturely and should be finished off in the same manner. Every one comes across bad times during their lifetime, so it just happened.

Be patient, attend hearings, be more careful next time. Best of luck.
TaureanBull is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 23rd July 2010, 02:26   #8
Senior - BHPian
 
praful's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Paris
Posts: 1,012
Thanked: 591 Times

Been there, done that... Absolutely hated those few weeks! Completely understand your situation and what you must be going through.

Don't worry, you did nothing wrong. Nothing wrong is going to happen to you.
praful is offline  
Old 23rd July 2010, 02:31   #9
BHPian
 
nkapoor777's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: New Delhi
Posts: 608
Thanked: 143 Times

Jay, don't let this episode deter you from helping someone in need. for what you did.

A similar incident happened to a friend here in Delhi just about a month ago. It was 2 am in the night and everybody including the policemen were dead drunk (except the offending driver, if you can call it that). Me and another friend reached the spot on his call and once the mutual settlement was agreed, we made the injured party sign on a statement which read that a particular incident happened, medical aid was provided for by the other party, no serious injuries and it has been mutually settled (blah, blah).

No issues since then!
nkapoor777 is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 23rd July 2010, 02:41   #10
BHPian
 
Car-e-ok's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 222
Thanked: 21 Times

I just read the whole story. O man this is so true . This is so really true . It has happened to my friend as well . And i was there with him all this while. We even had an approach of a police officer . The police were directly saying that they are with us . But indirectly they were helping the other guy so that he can file the case and cops get the money from both ends as well . Same story same stuff. My friend paid north of 1 lakh to compromise the case at court in the end as he was waiting canadian immigration . Moreover he spent endless nights contacting countlesss people ,his lawyers ripped him off,Police mishandled his impounded car,hassle,stressess . I am sorry to say things like really make me feel bad about this country(which happens to be my own country).
Car-e-ok is offline  
Old 23rd July 2010, 02:44   #11
Senior - BHPian
 
ph03n!x's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Coimbatore
Posts: 2,561
Thanked: 5,952 Times

@jay - for what it matters, you have my support in what you did - you did the right thing, took the high road (or in this case, refused to take to the roads!). But, like most would expect, the system got the better of you. What would be adding more value to your episode is some names / designations if possible- maybe after the case is all cleared up.
ph03n!x is offline  
Old 23rd July 2010, 02:53   #12
Senior - BHPian
 
Nitin's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Houston, Texas
Posts: 3,294
Thanked: 20 Times

Crazy stuff! My sympathies are with you, Sir!

No wonder everyone says- 'get into a crash and try to scoot from there. No point trying to be a good samaritan and help the injured. 98% of the time, things will back-fire. So better escape from the scene at the earliest.'.

No wonder. If one has to go through all this non-sense, we'd have to keep aside our emotions and just let the injured be. Not everyone can do this,though.
Nitin is offline  
Old 23rd July 2010, 03:17   #13
BHPian
 
anku94's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 249
Thanked: 351 Times

Really sorry to hear that. Hope it ends up alright for you.

It really pains for one to know that the system is being run by the dregs of human civilisation, people who're incapable of understanding the effects of their actions.

It hurts a lot to accept this, but it's hopeless. I don't see how the situation will improve in the near future, unless God holds a brain distribution ceremony for those who missed out before birth because of them being busy with devil's sermons.
anku94 is offline  
Old 23rd July 2010, 03:26   #14
BHPian
 
sirajbose's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Mumbai
Posts: 114
Thanked: Once

Jay - Kudos tp you. You did the right thing. Have faith everything will be alright.

And before people start blaming the system, lets not forget, its us who created it, and more importantly its just the people like us who help sustain it. We are the same people who do not vote, the same people who are afraid to get into politics and change it, the same people who keep quiet on the rampant price hikes for the past few years, the same people who pay such exorbitant real estate prices, the same people who sit and watch while the politicians tear apart our country based on language / caste / states and the same people who don't bother to do something real about the problems our society faces (apart from write a few comments) as it doesn't actually affect us directly / we are able to manage. Till each and everyone of us decide to do the right thing - together - day after day after day - and don't give up - nothing is going to change.
sirajbose is offline  
Old 23rd July 2010, 04:40   #15
J.Ravi
 
Posts: n/a

Sorry to hear the sad development after an accident. But, I do not advocate 'hit-and-run' under any circumstance, come what may. If I do, I will also join the corrupt system.
 
Reply

Most Viewed
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Team-BHP.com
Proudly powered by E2E Networks