HCL engineer killed after sleepy cousin crashes car into divider near DND flyway

A 25-year-old software engineer was killed and three other injured after her cousin driving the car dozed off and rammed that vehicle into a divider near DND flyway. According to a Times of India report, the accident occurred in early morning hours on Sunday around 4 am. The victim has been identified as one Shweta Thakur. The report said that Thakur along with her roommate and two cousins had gone out for dinner and were travelling back to Noida. Around 4 am, Thakur’s cousin Navjot Prakash dozed off and rammed the car into the divider near loop leading towards Greater Noida. While others suffered minor injuries, Thakur was grievously hurt.

The police said that all four passengers of the car were taken to the nearby Kailash Hospital in Noida-Sector 27. According to the doctors, shards of window pane pierced into the skull and Thakur died within an hour. The TOI report also quoted her father saying that those driving at night must be cautious about such things. The shocked father said that a call at 5:30 am on Sunday informed him about his first-born’s untimely death.

Thakur had celebrated her 25th birthday on March 16 last month. Working with HCL for over a year, she had also visited Sweden recently.

This accident highlights the poor road safety records in India. According to a report by the Transport Research Wing of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, three persons died every ten minutes in road accidents across India in 2017. The report also said that a total of 4,64,910 road accidents were reported by states and Union Territories in 2017, claiming 1,47,913 lives and causing injuries to 4,70,975 people.

Earlier in June 2018, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari had admitted that only 5% lives were saved instead of 50% during road accidents. Gadkari had said that a Road Safety Bill passed in the Lok Sabha to curb road accidents has been pending in the Rajya Sabha for over a year now. The legislation is currently being scrutinised by a standing committee. Gadkari said as many as five lakh accidents occur on an average every year, killing 1.5 lakh people and injuring another three lakh.

The bill – aimed at effecting transparency in regional transport offices – was tabled in Parliament only after a committee headed by Rajasthan transport minister Yunus Khan submitted its report on the matter, the Union minister said.