Road rage could end up being the death of you

Wreckage of the vehicle after the collision on Tuesday. Pic/PTI

There is so much being said of the Dehradun road accident that claimed six young lives, and one has not heard the end of numerous theories and opinions about the incident. The father of the lone survivor battling for his life at the time of going to press has asked people to halt speculation till the cops have the entire picture.

While the entire investigation has to be completed, any number of reports suggest there was a ‘race' with the car that crashed trying to overtake a vehicle that overtook it. While this theory may be contested, we will move away from the accident to spotlight any number of ego moves on our roads that are highly dangerous.

We witness instances where one car has overtaken another, and the driver of the overtaken car then in a fit of anger tries to catch up with the car ahead or overtake it in a tit-for-tat approach.

Cutting lanes is another ‘c'mon I will show you' opportunity with one driver cutting his lane and another driver who had been temporarily wedged in or forced to slow down, trying to do the same.

There are many other such instances where car drivers, egged on at times by passengers, sometimes alone are in stiff and very dangerous competition and sometimes direct wheeled confrontation with other drivers.
Then, it becomes a case of who is the winner, with caution and common sense thrown to the wind.

Nobody wins in these cases. At most, there is some temporary triumph and maybe an ego boost. Yet, these are infantile challenges that result in disaster and at times, very possibly can result in death too. Maturity and restraint always win.