[hserus]

http://www.ndtv.com/chennai-news/che...-autos-1460337

Auto drivers parked by the side of Cathedral Road Chennai at 3:30 AM when a drunk kid in a Porsche t-boned them.

Some of the drivers were sleeping in the autos.

"The police only helped him and took him away" according to one of the injured auto drivers.

[bharat4ever]

1 dead after drunk driver in a Porsche rams into 12 auto rickshaws.
22 year old driver arrested.

[Torqy]

Originally Posted by hserus

Auto drivers parked by the side of Cathedral Road Chennai at 3:30 AM when a drunk kid in a Porsche t-boned them.

Some of the drivers were sleeping in the autos.

"The police only helped him and took him away" according to one of the injured auto drivers.

Originally Posted by bharat4ever

1 dead after drunk driver in a Porsche rams into 12 auto rickshaws.
22 year old driver arrested.

Another grim reminder that Airbags and other safety stuff are for us inside the car, and not for the innocent people outside who unwittingly get involved. Expecting a discussion on "Porsche Airbag effectiveness and How Safe the car is" to come up.

[sachinnair]

Originally Posted by bharat4ever

1 dead after drunk driver in a Porsche rams into 12 auto rickshaws.
22 year old driver arrested.

I was jogging past the Besant Nagar police station this evening where the Porsche and the autos are parked.

What I first saw was the auto which is lying upside down. It seems like an origami trick now. Neatly folded into one fourth the volume. A random Anna standing around nearby said this auto was in some other accident. The driver, someone known to him, had a tipple or three on Saturday evening and went about on his trips. This happened sometime at night. Exactly how he aced "origami of death" remains unknown.

[Torqy]

Originally Posted by arunphilip

Let them not take away another of the small thrills in life, just because of the few who can't use it but end up abusing it.

The Porsche accident is a shining example of a racer having his small thrills on a public road. One idiot who abuses is enough to deny the rest of the population the freedom. :(

[bharat4ever]

Apparently the drunk driver from yesterday was a professional racing driver.

At the time of the crash, Anand (22), who is a professional racer, was reportedly behind the wheel with his friend and car dealer Charankumar (38) in the passenger seat of the two-seater luxury car. They were returning from a party hosted at a private residence in Poes Garden to celebrate the victory of Vikash’s brother’s team in the finals of the TNPL cricket tournament. Vikash, who is pursing a law degree, has also participated in national-level racing competitions.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper...cle9125737.ece

[ac 427]

Originally Posted by bharat4ever

Apparently the drunk driver from yesterday was a professional racing driver.

you beat me to this post.

I wonder what will happen to the deceased. The son a hot gun, father a hot shot lawyer.

Apparently 10 rickshaws got gutted and the Porsche was upwards of 140+ kph. 1 dead 11 injured.

Vikash Anand has been arrested since then.

Classic case of 'Paise aa gaye, par akal nahi'.?

Originally Posted by Torqy

The Porsche accident is a shining example of a racer having his small thrills on a public road. One idiot who abuses is enough to deny the rest of the population the freedom. :(

I guess alcohol had a huge role to play in our little racer trying to get his thrills. This is a systematic failure. At an moral level and at procedural (rules) level.

He shouldn't have got into the drivers seat after having a couple of drinks, and definitely not a sports car. His friend who is a car dealer should have definitely stopped him from driving. At a procedural level i am not sure what more can be done. I guess there are enough police check posts around, but as you summed it up, an idiot who abuses denies the rest from their freedom.

[rr_zen]

Originally Posted by Torqy

"Drive Sensibly" - Exactly....and there lies our problem. We're a country where we still haven't understood the word "queue"....or "Stopping at Red Light".

+1. You might want to add one more word to this list which is 'Yield' or 'Give Way' because our country does not seem to have it in their dictionaries.

Read about the Porsche accident in today's TOI where it is mentioned that the driver was usually a responsible driver as per his friend but was over excited due to his brother's victory in a game on that day. Not able to understand how responsible someone can be when he decides to get behind the wheel after a drink.

[jpcoolguy]

Originally Posted by bharat4ever

Apparently the drunk driver from yesterday was a professional racing driver.

Originally Posted by ac 427

I guess alcohol had a huge role to play in our little racer trying to get his thrills. This is a systematic failure. At an moral level and at procedural (rules) level.

Originally Posted by rr_zen

Read about the Porsche accident in today's TOI where it is mentioned that the driver was usually a responsible driver as per his friend but was over excited due to his brother's victory in a game on that day. Not able to understand how responsible someone can be when he decides to get behind the wheel after a drink.

From the TNM link (see below), it seems he was the winner of recently concluded MRF Formula 1600 category.

http://www.thenewsminute.com/article...o-driver-50081

Vikash Anand, a professional racer was recently in the news for winning the premier title in the MRF Formula 1600 category.

Link to the article - where he won the title earlier:

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/...ier-title.html

Twenty-two year old Chennai lad Vikash Anand won a double to clinch the title in the MRF Formula 1600 category and a ticket for the Mazda Road to Indy shootout as the fifth and final round of the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Racing Championship concluded here today.

The Hindu also quoted that they were returning from a party which was held to celebrate the victory of his brother's team in TNPL. Subramanian Anand, who was part of the Tuticorin Patriots team which won TNPL on Sunday is his brother.

They were returning from a party hosted at a private residence in Poes Garden to celebrate the victory of Vikash’s brother’s team in the finals of the TNPL cricket tournament.

[mail4ajo]

Originally Posted by hserus

http://www.ndtv.com/chennai-news/che...-autos-1460337

Auto drivers parked by the side of Cathedral Road Chennai at 3:30 AM when a drunk kid in a Porsche t-boned them.

Some of the drivers were sleeping in the autos.

"The police only helped him and took him away" according to one of the injured auto drivers.

Boys FMSCI racing license has been revoked. Serves him right if he was indeed under the influence. He was due to race in the US.

[GTO]

Thanks for sharing, Hserus! Moving out the post to its own thread.

I appreciate what Akbar Ebrahim said here:

Former Indian F3 champion Akbar Ebrahim feels that racers need to be aware of the fact that there is no connection between racing as a professional and driving on the streets. "Just because you are a racer, you are not at liberty to do what you want on the streets. You need to show some responsibility and maturity," Akbar said.
Akbar, whose son Armaan is a professional racer too, also stressed that it does not need such an accident where there is a death involved for racers to be reminded of their responsibilities. "The wake-up call should not be coming now. You enjoy the opportunity of racing on the tracks and that is a privilege that you cannot take for granted," Akbar said.

[centaur]

Originally Posted by GTO

I appreciate what Akbar Ebrahim said

This is something I have always wondered as to how do these racers resist the urge to floor the A Pedal while on normal roads. Yes the cars might not be as powerful as the ones they drive on tracks but still have enough power to cause damage and fatalities.

An accident can happen even to the best of drivers and as is posted in the accidents thread "50% of accidents happen because of the mistake of the other driver", we just need to ensure that we are not the "other" driver

[shankar.balan]

How terribly sad. One bad decision and a whole series of futures are ruined. I feel particularly sad for those poor Auto guys who were merely parked and sleeping. It is not right that they have to suffer for this.

In this case, very clearly, the Driver of the Porsche (if indeed he was DUI/DWI) is at complete fault. And yes, he needs to pay the price. Career in ruins. Jail Sentence. Fines. License Revoked. Full repudiation for the poor sufferers of the accident.

The same with that woman in Mumbai who smashed her Audi into some poor family.
The same goes for Salman Khan.
The same goes for that Admiral Nanda's son.
The same goes for that boy Alastair something or other in Mumbai.
The same goes for that Real Estate Man's son in Bangalore.

All forgotten accidents. All forgotten, conveniently because the perpetrators were rich and "entitled". But the law cannot be partial in these matters irrespective of the high powered lawyers that these people can bring in.

P.S. If indeed that car was a car dealer's car, then, assuming it was up for sale, would it have had insurance cover against this kind of thing?

[hserus]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

How terribly sad.
One bad decision and a whole series of futures are ruined.
I feel particularly sad for those poor Auto guys who were merely parked and sleeping.
It is not right that they have to suffer for this.

In this case, very clearly, the Driver of the Porsche (if indeed he was DUI/DWI) is at complete fault.

The current claim in court, in his bail plea, is that Vikash was not driving, he was the passenger, and that someone had "kept a boulder in the middle of the road with no warning sign" and "the driver" swerved to avoid it, but a wheel still hit the boulder, leading to a tyre burst and causing the accident.

Meanwhile the car dealer's bail plea says that the car belonged to him and was being driven by Vikash, who was drunk, and who caused the accident.

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/natio...eeks-bail.html

[shadow]

Originally Posted by hserus

someone had "kept a boulder in the middle of the road with no warning sign" and "the driver" swerved to avoid it, but a wheel still hit the boulder, leading to a tyre burst and causing the accident.

A boulder! I don't understand where in the middle of Chennai did someone get a 'boulder' to keep in the middle of the road.
And post the accident, the boulder magically rolled away, is it.