Brian Mendonça
What was this sports car doing by the side of the road? I
was driving to work and here was this well-dressed gent in smart casuals
flagging down my vehicle and asking me to stop. I was already behind time, but
something made me pull over at the junction near Queeny hotel, on NH17B.
‘Can you drop some people to the hospital? There’s been an
accident,’ he said. My mind raced ahead. Could this be a trap? Was I being
set-up as a decoy? Who were these injured people? Why didn’t he drop them to
the hospital himself? Something made me trust him though. I looked around. It
was a bright sunny morning and nothing could go wrong.
I nodded my head. He sprinted over to his car and I saw 2
ladies limping towards my car. I have heard of ladies who get into the car and
take advantage of the lone driver. But the
bruises on the younger lady’s hand were real. The skin had peeled off in places and in some
places the blood had stuck to her jacket. ‘What happened?’ I ventured to her.
‘I was riding my scooter, when it went out of control and crashed,’ she said in
good English. ‘Where did it happen?’ I asked. ‘Near BITS’ she said. The second
lady was holding her leg – her face contorted with pain.
There was no collision with another vehicle or passerby.
Perhaps the tyre pressure was too low to handle the weight of the 2 persons.
Early on a Monday morning the rider may have been speeding to work, had lost
control of the vehicle and the mishap occurred.
I asked where she was driving to. She mentioned the name of
a college. I immediately asked if she knew so and so who was my acquaintance in
that college. She said she did. With the last shred of doubt out of the way my
heart welled with sympathy for these hapless riders. I invited the gent to join
us, but he said he preferred to stay with his broken down vehicle. I nevertheless took his number.
He asked me to take the ladies to Chikitsa hospital at the T point where NH17B from Vasco meets
NH17 on the Panjim-Margao route. I had no clue where the hospital was and was
dreading a scenario where I have two injured ladies and nowhere to go.
Fortunately, the younger lady was quite practical and was constantly on the
phone giving the relevant people at work and at home the updates. She also
asked someone to pick her up from Chikitsa hospital where I dropped them.
Road users are advised
to help accident victims. When I looked up the website of the Goa Road
Transport Organization www.goatransport.gov.in/
I did not find any guidelines/reassurances on how to deal with accident
victims on the road. I am not sure if the lady rider had heeded the slogan,
‘Use your head. Wear a helmet.’
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Published in Gomantak Times Weekender, St. Inez, Goa on Sunday, 6 March 2016. Pix courtesy: Girl Accident, Traffic Awareness Video India on YouTube.
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