by Shubhangi Tambwekar
My grandfather told me the story of the Legend of Banastari when I was a child. The legend goes that Lord Parshuram reclaimed the Konkan region which Goa is a part of , by hurling an arrow (Baan) into the Arabian Sea. The arrow (Baan) landed at a place in Goa which is named BANASTARI.
For ages this place is known for this legend. Till the Sixth of August 2023.
That day, this place took on a whole new name…the place of ‘THE ACCIDENT’ that shook Goa.
I have been thinking about putting my thoughts on paper (virtually) since .
That day, my husband I had returned after visiting a care centre at Ponda. I remember getting onto the bridge and remarking to my husband that the road surface of the bridge was in need of immediate repairs. This was at 2 pm.
It was the next day that the news about the “accident” and loss of three lives and critical injury to three more people came buzzing from various sources. Every Goenkar by now knows the highs and lows of this high profile case involving the members of a well known family from Goa.
There was a total silence from most of my friends and family from Goa on the social media. Very unlike what happened some months back on Zuari bridge. But privately, the Whatsapp groups and individuals were abuzz with news. A few close friends thought that we (my husband and I) should ‘do something’ about it because, after all we run a foundation where Road Safety is a focus. They were not sure of what that ‘something’ meant.
One thing everyone was voicing privately was that the person involved in the incident should be punished but, given the family status and political connections, they would get away with this horrendous crime. But none voiced their fears or opinions aloud except a few villagers belonging to the village of the couple who met their end here.
Please note, that I have used the word “accident” in quotes.
My thought about this word “ accident” has always been this : When we use the word “accident” to describe such incidents it takes away from the seriousness of this life altering incident in the lives of the victims and their families. It implies something which just happened because of nobody’s fault and hence nobody to be blamed. No intent to harm anyone. Thus absolving individuals from moral, emotional and legal responsibility.
Hence people make casual remarks such as “ It was ONLY an accident” “ Accidents happen” …as I have heard the accused lady is alleged to have said to the crowd gathered around. I don’t know how much of this is the truth.
Try telling that to the people who have lost their child, parent, sibling to such horrific deaths..it is so insensitive and inhuman to make little of such a grave happening. And there is nobody better to understand how devastating, life altering, isolating and emotionally destroying this can be. We, my husband and I lost a perfectly healthy , promising , wonderful daughter to one such incident nearly nine years back. She came under the wheels of a truck. Mind you, she was a pillion rider and wearing a helmet. More about that later.
Hence
Point one: Let us stop using the word ‘ accident’ for such incidents.
Most of them are NOT. They occur because of the decisions made by the drivers. One can see statistics available in public domain to clearly see this. Over-speeding, jumping signals, driving under influence and distracted driving together account for over 95 percent of these incidents.
Who makes the decision to over speed ? The driver!
Who makes the decision to jump signal ? The driver!
Who makes a decision to drink and drive? The driver!
Who makes decision to talk on the phone while driving ? The driver!
Why do we then call such incidents as “accident?”
They are committed willfully as nobody is ignorant of these simple and basic rules of driving.
We conduct regular sessions on safety for primary school children and even a child less than 8 years is very much aware of all these rules. They have been incorporated in school curriculum.
So why shouldn’t an adult not heed to these rules?
The reason is simple…they just don’t care. It’s their attitude and disrespect for fellow humans.
They have no fear for the law. As our laws are like an eighty year old with no dentures . We have a failed system where if booked for an incident such as this, they know that the case, IF admitted in court will lay languishing in court for years together .
Point 2 : Can we strictly enforce laws through swift investigation and fair justice?
Why oh why do we NOT do a breath test for every accident (especially in a place like Goa) ? Do any of my readers out there know if there is an SOP for all police personnel on how to conduct an investigation when such an incident happens? Obviously, we have failed miserably here.
Somewhere while doing research for this write up , I came across a statement that the Goa Police has only 29 functional breath analysers. Is the number used optimally and effectively? Is it too small to cover the main spots of Goa? An article available in public domain ( THE GOAN NETWOK dated 24/2/2023) tell us a sad story. That 50% of the available analysers are non functional and a proposal to procure breathe analysers was rejected due to unknown reasons.
It’s almost nine years since we lost our dearest daughter in an “accident” and despite filing multiple RTI , we have NO CLOSURE on how the accident occurred. Ridiculously they have written that since she came under the wheels of a huge truck, that the truck driver had to be punished…well , because he drove the larger vehicle. Just like that.
We hear that the truck driver was arrested and jailed for a week.
The truck was seized . But both the driver and the truck was released.
Despite of being parents and filing RTI, we do NOT know what happened to the case. Lawyers from Vellore kept calling me telling me that I was entitled to a compensation of 19 Lakhs..This would be held by the court they said and given to us.
I have no news about this compensation and it has been almost nine years. We haven’t seen a paisa of it. We refuse to believe that one can put a price on the life of my child’s life.
Let me admit, we haven’t pursued the case either…It is horribly horribly painful for us.
And that, is precisely my point.
The victims of such accidents are in no frame of mind to pursue cases, run after police, put in claims etc etc after the devastation that they face. The onus of a fair, quick and scientific investigation followed by fair dispensation of justice should be the responsibility of the police and judiciary. Imagine ! people have to come on our roads to demand something that is the basic right of every citizen of our country.
Right to live and right to justice.
Insurance policies include a clause to say that if the person or any parties involved in the accident are DRUNK then insurance doesn’t cover them. Insurance claims are also rejected for negligence – eg. if the driver crashed while talking or texting on the phone or overspeeding. In short, if any of the rules of driving have not been followed. The insurance policy does not call out different types of negligence. The cost of policy renewal also goes up when such negligence is established.
The truth is that, in our country lives of the common people are cheap and those with money or muscle power can easily buy even lives. Otherwise, how does a famous personality get away with mowing people sleeping on a footpath ?
Here again we can see how the investigating officer is needed to do a fair and honest investigation without ( political or personal) interference. Do you think it is possible ?
Can the judiciary give a quick and fair decision? Do you think this is possible ?
Let’s hope it is..hum honge Kamyaab….Ek din! ( Whenever that morning dawns on us ! )
Point 3 : Let’s stop blaming tourists and ‘bhayale lok’ for such instances.
The Banastari crash was not due to a tourist.
In October, the car my husband was driving was rammed from behind when it was stationary at the Zuari bridge.We had stopped because of the very common traffic jam that occurs when suddenly the four lanes are squeezed into two lanes at the start of the bridge. The gentleman was a cent percent Goenkar who was looking for his cell phone while his car was in motion not bothering to slow or see the line of cars ahead of him.
He said to us very calmly afterwards“ It is only an accident no? Accidents happen “ So so casual.
As though it was the most natural thing in the world!
At which point I saw my dead daughter lying on the gurney and lost my shit ( don’t mind using the most common term in the current vocabulary ) and screamed at him telling him all about it and crying uncontrollably.
He did foot the bill for repairs of the car. But that is besides the point.
I would like to mention here that the seat belt both of us were wearing protected us because there was definitely a horrible jolt and the rear end of the car was damaged.
This is not to absolve tourists of any wrongdoing. But the enforcements of rules is strict and swift it will apply equally for both tourist and local people.
Point 4 : And hence, dear friends, Let’s look within ourselves.
And do which each one of us can do for sure.
FOLLOW ALL THE RULES…
Yes, on our potholed roads…on our non existent roads.
On roads where buffaloes roam
On roads where there is a bar at every kilometer
On dark roads.
On endless stretches of dug up roads
On arterial roads and highways
On every road..
Let us..please do this.
Let us question ourselves.
How much of self governing we /you do ?
Do you wear a helmet ? Even if it is hot ?
Do you wear seatbelt’s?
How many of you have put seat covers on your back seats and your seat belts are covered AND you have now found one more reason NOT to wear seat belts in your back seats?
I know many of my own friends and relatives don’t wear seat belts…or helmets.
They all love my daughter they say..
She did wear a helmet didn’t she? They say..yet she died..That is supposed to absolve them of the negligence of not wearing one!
I am no one to tell you NOT to drink. It’s your bottle and your liver.
But it could be somebody else’s life.
Please DO NOT DRIVE AFTER YOU DRINK.
Since getting an Uber or Ola is impossible in Goa, ONE family member should stay sober at a party and he/ she should drive. Or have a designated sober driver.
A final word
So here it is …finally something I have been mulling since 6 August.
Talking about these things brings the raw tormenting unresolving pain we feel every single day.
A victim’s point of view. A mother’s point of view. A citizens point of view.
I sincerely hope that there is justice done in not just this case, but every case of a CRASH due to incidents of commission or incidents of omission.
I know I am certainly still waiting for justice for my daughter…after 8 years of her so called ‘ACCIDENT’
References :
Picture and news credit : http://epaper.heraldgoa.in/viewpage.php?edition=oHeraldo&edid=OHERALDO_GOA&date=2023-08-07&pn=1
Alcometers : https://www.thegoan.net/goa-news/govt-rejected-proposal-to-procure-more-alcometers/95660.html
