I was thinking of posting about this topic couple of days ago but an article has just come out in Kantipuronline. The gross negligence of drivers and the loss of precious life is just the murder. The existing law is simply to protect so called "hune khane and thula bada". Is your life worth Rs. 15000 to 20000 ($300)? I was shocked to know couple months ago when one of my neighbour brother was hit/run by a mini bus, while the injured was crying for a help... This kind of act should be classified as Murder, and the the law that promotes such criminal act must be scraped. Otherwise there is always an incentive to kill helpless.
Accident or murder?
(Source: Kantipuronline.com)
Are Nepali drivers so inhuman? Should the innocent-looking bus or minibus drivers run over a person reversing the wheels if they happen to injure a person by an accident? The issue of backing off the vehicle to kill the victim for the sake of getting rid of the possible life-long burden, if the victim survives crippled, has raised a tall question about our rules and regulations, and above all the human values in our society. In a normal condition a person who drives or rides a bike (as most of us do) doesn't agree that a person would be in a state of mind to kill the convulsing injured person when an accident takes place. However, we have been occasionally reading and hearing about incidents of drivers (especially that of heavy vehicles) reversing their vehicles and killing the victims, who could have, otherwise, survived.
Most recently, a Bhaktapur-bound mini-bus ran over a cyclist at New Baneshwor. The eye-witnesses claimed that the bus driver killed injured Devi Bahadur Khatri by running over him for the second time. Reportedly, the driver did not even listen to the protests by the passengers on board not to reverse the bus. The incident infuriated the public to the extent of burning the bus, and destroying many other vehicles. There are many similar incidents being reported regularly in the press. According to authorities, most of the drivers who are alleged of intentionally killing the victims are absolved due to the lack of sufficient evidence. The eye witnesses either fail to report at the court as court case takes long time, or change their version due to various reasons, including the threat, palm greasing, personal influence, etc.
In fact, the crux of the problem lies in our Act and regulations. As per the Vehicle and Transportation Act, a driver who happens to kill a person unintentionally in a traffic accident is financially not much liable. He pays the cost of the last rite, and a sum that the third party insurance would sanction. When the victim is injured, the driver is supposed to bear the cost as per third party insurance rule. However, the cost of insurance in the case of death is nominal, but the cost in the case of injury could be anything. In our case most of the vehicles, except the ones financed by the financial institutions, are not insured so the driver becomes liable to pay the fines. If the government makes the third party insurance mandatory, no driver would need to even think of taking the risk of killing a person. Third party insurance bears the cost of the losses of the victim party -- be it another vehicle or an individual. The premium for the third party insurance is also very nominal. If the government takes the decision promptly, the disturbing issue of killing accident victims by the drivers would end forever.
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