[Virtualaman]

Here's something to note about our politicians:

The first citizen of Navi Mumbai, mayor Sagar Naik, has broken the speed barrier on Palm Beach Road and gone on to boast about it on Instagram.

Speed freak Naik, who zips around in his private Audi S4 sports car late at night, has posted a grab of the speedometer at 223kmph on his profile on the social media platform. The caption sagardnaik #PalmBeachRoad irshie killed ittttt @sagardnaik has landed Naik in a spot.

When dna contacted him about the photo, a defensive Naik said: “The photo is a grab from a YouTube video and was uploaded just for fun to trick my friends into thinking that I was driving at such a high speed, particularly one friend who has uploaded a similar photo of his speeding exploits.”

Naik said he was not even driving this car. “I have my official vehicle in which I move about,” he said, referring to the Skoda sedan for the first citizen of the satellite city. “We have installed speed cameras on Palm Beach Road and there is no question of speeding. I have never broken any rule,” he maintained.

Source & Full Article: http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/18893...oad-at-223kmph

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by Virtualaman

Naik said: “The photo is a grab from a YouTube video and was uploaded just for fun to trick my friends into thinking that I was driving at such a high speed, particularly one friend who has uploaded a similar photo of his speeding exploits.”

Instead of being apologetic about the posting, he used it to defend himself and also to confirm that his friends do drive at high speeds esp on the killer stretches. Naik should have led by example of admonishing his friends but instead he did the reverse.

[amit]

Did he click the picture while driving at 223kmph!

I didn't understand his defence. He says the picture is from a you tube video that was to trick his friends into thinking he was driving at that speed. How did he do that? The speedo clearly is showing 223 kmph. Besides, if he has friends that do those kind of speeds then he should have informed the cops and got them booked. Apart from proving to be a good leader he would also have proved himself as a good friend.

Anyway, this incident is just one among the many that proves that there are different rules for politician's in this country.

[Octane_Power]

LOL! These guys are such good actors. They can give any bollywood actor a run for their money.
Being two-faced is in their blood and this is how Indian politicians are. They know they will go untouched and come out scot-free even if they are caught breaking the crime red-handed.

They are such good tricksters that they will show you a cat and make you believe its a dog !! Very pathetic, indeed.

If it had been in Russia or some other country I'm sure by now he would have been behind the bars and also made to pay a hefty fine.

-Bhargav

[dgupta]

I don't really see any factual data in the article to believe he was the one driving the car. The photo could really be a grab of the internet posted by this first moron, I mean citizen of Navi Mumbai. Given his age and may I say background, at the risk of sounding completely biased, it cannot be ruled out that he would have done this stunt on the streets.

However, I find it a little difficult to digest the fact that anyone can even dare to take a car to 200+ speeds on Palm Beach road. Is it really that good ? Any sane human sitting on a drivers seat will know its dangerous to even do half that speed on that road at any given time.

[srishiva]

I think the Mayor and his friends are pulling each others legs Should such personal posts be used by media

[Akshay1234]

Firstly that is very much possible on Palm Beach road in a car like the S4.

Secondly I'm pretty sure that isn't a grab of youtube, I don't think a mayor would have that much time on his hands.

And thirdly very stupid of him to keep his instagram account public while posting such things, knowing very well the position he holds.

[JoseVijay]

What is the length of the Palm Beach road? I wonder if it is possible to drive insanely in Mumbai and that too at 223 kmph.

[Simple_car]

Originally Posted by JoseVijay

What is the length of the Palm Beach road? I wonder if it is possible to drive insanely in Mumbai and that too at 223 kmph.

Total length is ~14 kms, but there are a lot of dangerous junctions in the part towards sector 19D. If I were to hazard a guess, then the part where the speeding might have occured is ~7-8 kms in length.

The road is in Navi Mumbai and yes it is possible to reach that kind of speeds on that road. It is very well marked and well lit. The surface now is ok-ish now (half of it is concretised, and half of it is tarmac with some places of paver blocks) but it was mind-boggling when it was new. Still, the best road in Navi Mumbai. It is marketed as the marine drive of Navi-Mumbai.

Btw, there are some places in Mumbai as well where you can reach those speeds if you have a reasonably well powered german saloon, and at particular hours.

Thanks,
Simple_car

[StrangeWizard]

If you guys look carefully you can see a small video icon on the top right corner of the pic which means he posted this video on Instagram and not just a pic. I saw his profile but he has made it private now

[Rehaan]

From the caption "sagardnaik #PalmBeachRoad irshie killed ittttt @sagardnaik" - it sounds more like his friend irshie was driving. Either way, not a very smart thing to do for several reasons.

Worse yet is his defense (as quoted in the papers, so also taken with a pinch of salt).

Heavy is the head that wears the crown!

cya
R

PS - does the 5W on the top right mean it was posted 5 weeks back?

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

From the caption "sagardnaik #PalmBeachRoad irshie killed ittttt @sagardnaik" - it sounds more like his friend irshie was driving. Either way, not a very smart thing to do for several reasons.

PS - does the 5W on the top right mean it was posted 5 weeks back?

Yup 5 weeks ago.

And the "kiiled it" by irshie is actually a comment on the video.

[noopster]

This is his apology.

Sagar said, "I have deleted the post and am sorry about it, as being the mayor, I agree, it sent a wrong message about safe driving. But the post was only to tease my friends.''

The two-time mayor admitted, "True, I am passionate about driving, I love cars, have an Audi A4, but I have never violated the law. It was simple light banter among 50 friends on the site with the snap of a speedometer downloaded from the Internet."

The civic body, he said, had taken many steps following which accidents have decreased drastically. "But nobody talks about positive action taken for safe driving. The opposition and some people are making an issue out of it because they cannot accept the good work of the party and my being mayor at a young age," he said.

I think whatever flak the mayor has come in for, however politically motivated, is well-deserved. Public figures need to inspire and motivate by their own example. You cannot do 223 in a 60 zone and then expect others to stick to the speed limit.

And for those who are doubting it, high speeds are easily doable on Palm Beach Road. Even normally vehicles do around 120 on some stretches: in an Audi, taking it to the speeds mentioned even momentarily is not impossible.

Stupid, yes. Crazy, certainly. But not impossible.

[green_wheel]

I do not doubt the car's ability to touch those speeds. But I doubt the driver's.
There is a certain way of pushing pedal that causes cars to attain high speeds efficiently without straining the drive train and I doubt if a desi politico has that knack. Maybe a professional / competitive driver.
I am also surprised that he did not resort to the oldest no-followup-questions-asked excuse in the book - "My account was hacked !". If I could hack into a politician's account, I would put far more "racier" pictures that that. Geddit, "racier" ?

[SHAHBAAZ]

Firstly, a prank(if it really is a prank) coming from the first citizen on a social media itself is not good. It gives wrong signal to the citizens. Now to get it proved is a matter of officials to check if the law of over speeding was really broken by him(as a citizen of that place) or his associate(which I doubt will ever happen). Secondly if there is a case then the odometer reading showing the number of kms. clocked can be compared by the vehicles he posses. Then may be something may come out.

Request to all, "Just for our pleasure, do not put someone else's life in danger". Drive safely and within rules. If you have guts and still want to do high speeds, do get a license and race it on racing tracks.