[vj_torqueaddict]

How strict is drink and drive check in Pune? Post COVID most such checks have stopped happening. In BLR around 2018-19 it was so stringent that , lot of my known circles were getting their licenses cancelled or hefty fines of 10000/-. Nobody was driving after drinking that I knew of. Rightly so! But now I don't see any checkpoints anywhere.

It would have been nice if the driver had crashed onto a pillar and perished, just like those 5 people in AUDI who had crashed into a wall somewhere. Good riddance ! There I said it.

[inner_roadster]

Some more horrible facts about this case that came to my knowledge:

The aforementioned boy possessed a credit card (I find it hard to believe a 17-year-old boy owning a credit card).
On that night, the boy used his credit card to pay the Rs. 48,000 payment for alcohol at the pub. I just want to know how a parent can provide such freedom to a minor boy. This guy must be incurring such big expenses on his credit card, and these parents are not even bothering to find out what their child is doing.

This kind of liberty provided to a child has now claimed the lives of two innocent young people . How can we ignore irresponsible act of these wealthy fathers, which impacted the lives of the Innocent family?

Furthermore, it has been revealed that his father has a good relationship with a local politician, which is why the blood test for this youngster was postponed 13 hours after the accident.
According to the CCTV footage, the boy consumed alcohol at 12:30 AM, the accident occurred at 2:30AM, and the blood sample was collected at 3PM the next day. So it has been more than 12 hours since the consumption of alcohol. So, how will it be proven that the youngster was under the influence of Alcohol?

This case is an excellent example of how the law may be managed since prosecutors and law enforcement know how they can protect the culprit while simultaneously proving guilt to an innocent person who has not committed any crimes.

[sh3lby]

Originally Posted by kc0403

Feels wrong to blame the parents for this terrible ordeal, I'm sure most of us have at some point snuck out with our cars unbeknownst to our parents; let's not jump to conclusions and blame the parents, they too might simply be on the receiving end of a lapse in their son's judgement.

I'm just slightly older than the accused so my perspective on this - I agree, we all have that teenage spirit in us, but we aren't insane like Vedant here. At this age, we're rebellious, want to drive fast cars, get a taste of alcohol (despite knowing we shouldn't), etc. but are adult enough to realize that going to a club late at night, then drinking and driving (despite having a driver, stupidity at its peak) is terribly wrong. Major difference in doing vs thinking about it. And even if you do, for eg, you don't pull ridiculous antics like this. I recently shared how I'd snuck out with my grandfather's WagonR at 16 in another thread but even then I was extremely cautious and aware of how actions have consequences.
All of this is a sign of incredibly flawed parenting, and hence the father should be held accountable for it.

Originally Posted by vishal9999

I wonder would our point of view change if India also had legal driving age of 16 years like many other countries. Would we still have same narrative of Rich kid ,etc.

There are many cases in the US of teenagers being prosecuted for similar heinous crimes, like manslaughter and causing the deaths of people through drunk driving.

eg -
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-c...bui-rcna100194 (19 year old)

Although I am in favour of lowering the legal driving age and adding certification and accountability in the form of license pts. etc, rather than driving illegally.

Originally Posted by inner_roadster

Some more horrible facts about this case that came to my knowledge:

The aforementioned boy possessed a credit card (I find it hard to believe a 17-year-old boy owning a credit card).
On that night, the boy used his credit card to pay the Rs. 48,000 payment for alcohol at the pub. I just want to know how a parent can provide such freedom to a minor boy. This guy must be incurring such big expenses on his credit card, and these parents are not even bothering to find out what their child is doing. This kind of liberty provided to a child has now claimed the lives of two innocent young people . How can we ignore irresponsible act of these wealthy fathers, which impacted the lives of the Innocent family?

They're roaming around in a Porsche, going to different clubs ... 48k for a night is chump change for them, just like pocket money we got in out teens but of course he wouldn't have any concept of the value of money.
Many wealthy and affluent people have children but the difference lies in their upbringing.
About the credit card - most probably not his, but now there are cards offered for Teens from apps like Fampay etc.

[GutsyGibbon]

Originally Posted by vishal9999

I wonder would our point of view change if India also had legal driving age of 16 years like many other countries. Would we still have same narrative of Rich kid ,etc.

Many 16 year old kids in the USA, screw up and kill others even when they are legally licensed. They do face severe consequences, but it's certainly less than what they would after they turn 18.

Both my kids started driving at the age of 15.5 years. It was a lot of lecturing, coaching, and precautions like installing of tracking apps, and severe implications imposed by parents if they ever crossed the line. Understanding the gravity of the issues that kids can cause is solely the responsibility of parents. I think this needs attention irrespective of the legal age.

[Evyas]

And in the midst of all this we’re moving to this model:

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/no-n...-5711549/amp/1

[Dreamlifter.07]

Now, this seems like a repeat of what often happens in our country.
The rich kids ( not generalising, as some of my friends who are loaded are down to earth) don’t know the value of money, they grew up in money and hence anything other than themselves and their immediate family, is trash for them.

Parents in India are now trying to copy what the western culture did, you can’t scold or hit your own child lest you mar their individualism. I call that BS!

In this case, sadly, I see it going the way of certain movie star after drunken hit and drive, was sent all free as it was his driver apparently who was driving, but the driver forgot all about that as and when it happened.

And before I forget, don’t the police need to book that MLA or something? Interference in police business? Or did he get elected just to put undue pressure? There has to be a law against this, as in anyone interfering in police business must be struck off from being an mla/mp and etc.

And alas! the government does not know why brain drain happens in India!

God bless the mods! They must be having a tough time screening this thread.

[Carpainter]

Very sad incident indeed but what I'm about to say might sound a little controversial.

I guess these type of incidents keep happening here in every few years. A famous movie star did similar thing some years ago and got away with it and I believe this culprit will get away with it too even if they move it as a heineous crime given how the JJB has already ordered and the political connection his family must be having being a bigshot real estate developer.

Now is this a one off incident and something that never happened in the last 10 years or so. Not really. It's just that the car involved is a Porsche and the kid being below 18 got drunk at a pub. Had it been a Swift or an i20, I guess the media coverage would have been much lower.

Also I feel pity for the bar owners as they have been attached in this case. Personally I have never been to that pub but is there a system in any bar or pub in India where they check your ID card to verify your age before serving liquor. Otherwise, how can someone determine one's age, whether you are 17 years 8 months or 18 years 4 months. I'm not saying that they did the right thing in serving alcohol to an underaged chap but the capital punishment they are probably going to get for the crime of some rich brat is unfortunate for sure and something that happens only in India.

[GTE]

The 'boy' was given burgers & pizzas at the police station. I wonder if this was done with an intention to alter the alcohol level shown in blood which would be then submitted to the labs. I foresee very limited consequences for the criminals as money is incredibly effective in wiping away everything. Proof of this is the actor who killed innocents sleeping on the footpath & the other incident where the car driven by the person flipped over the divider & smashed into 2 cars, everybody in Bombay knew who was the driver except the police. Show me the wealth I will show you the 'justice'.

[Beemer1077]

The kid, his father, and the judge who granted him bail - all are criminals. The kid who drove the car without a license was drunk and ultimately ended up taking the lives of two innocent civilians. The father probably knew about his son's expenses on alcohol etc and had not registered the vehicle. The judge granted him bail under absurd conditions despite knowing the fact that he ran over two civilians.

The kid should face life in prison and be tried as an adult since he is accountable to the families of the IT professionals who died for no reason. The father should face necessary actions, as he allowed this to happen. The judge should be fired from his duties as he violated procedure and did not adhere to the new laws under the Motor Vehicles Act amended in 2019.

Also next time if you are drunk, ride a bicycle - you will neither face any criminal charges(provided you don't behave strangely or cause a chaos), nor will you be able to hit and run over someone at higher speeds, in fact you might as well get sober by pedaling.

[Turbanator]

Sorry about the two young lives lost. Nothing is going to change/ happen to the killer. This probably got sensationalised due to the haste by his parents to get him released. Everyone concerned, including the police and judiciary, supported.

As a parent of a teenager (adult now), my Son got caught doing 150 + on a highway with a maximum of 100. Since he was sober, the guy who wrote the ticket did not take his car but ensured my Son had to appear in the court. Our Son wanted me to hire someone to handle the case, which is normal as those guys are professionals and can somehow manage ( I still don't know how), but I refused and made him go to the court and face the Judge and everything.

He got fined about 1000 CAD, which he tried to reduce by reasoning (student/ pocket money), but the judge was not interested and gave the option to extend community services instead of a fine. Additionally, his DL was suspended for 3 Months. He had to undergo additional classes on traffic safety. A part of his services was regulating traffic outside school and a religious place/ community centre of his choice. This happened about eight years back (one can get a DL in Canada at 16), and since then, he has not gotten a speed ticket. I am 100% sure that if I had paid to that agent, he would have never understood this whole thing.

His parents should have let their Son remain in Jail for a while. So, no sympathy for such parents. Technically, they should also be tried to influence the proceedings, and concerned police officials should be suspended, at least who tried to help the accused. But we all know this will get silenced after a few days.

[MT_Hyderabad]

Even the reporters are smoking something in this case. Excerpt from HT attached.

[sh3lby]

Originally Posted by MT_Hyderabad

Even the reporters are smoking something in this case. Excerpt from HT attached.

Reporters missing the point of this incident and it's aftermath by sensationalizing the car rather than focus on the main issue just like they missed the point in the price of the car.

[Sok]

Just a quick one - in one of the article shared here, it's mentioned the victims were coming back from a party at a pub. If this holds true and the victims were driving under influence would it alter the course of the legal proceedings?

[kiku007]

RIP. This is sad.

Originally Posted by Ays7

As a lawyer, I can safely say that bikers not wearing helmets will not amount to any kind of contributory negligence in this situation.

+1. I know of a Motor Accident Insurance Claim when the Insurance Company contested a claim stating that the insured party wasn't wearing a helmet while riding his two-wheeler, therefore being willfully negligent of their safety (and breaking the law), and hence their claim for compensation cannot be processed for the requested amount. The court ruled in favor of the biker's family and directed the insurance company to pay the compensation.

Originally Posted by Ays7

In my experience, most likely actions that will happen here are - the victims of the family will be appropriately compensated (though there should not be a price on human life, but alas that is how things work), the witnesses will disappear, and trial will linger on and finally, everyone will be acquitted as prosecution would have failed to prove their case beyond reasonable doubt. That is what I feel based on how things have happened so far.

You know what you are talking about. I agree. I won't be surprised if the car got retrospectively registered, road-tax paid or even be eligible for 3rd party insurance. Anything and anyone is available for the right price.

I can only hope that the families of the victims are able to get good legal representation to calculate the monetary compensation in terms of active work life X potential future income and not active work life X current income. For techies in the early 20s this should be in multiple crores/victim. Nothing is going to bring back their loves ones, but I hope at least they get some financial security for the future.

[ruskinash]

Out of curiosity, where is the 150kmph number pulled from? How was this determined?