Car driven by minor rammed by truck in Delhi, 17-year-old passenger dies
A 17-year-old student of a prominent south Delhi school was killed and four of his friends, all minors, were injured when the Swift Dzire car being driven by one of them was rammed from behind by a truck in south-west Delhi’s Dwarka on Thursday, the police said on Friday.
The car belonged to the father of one of the injured boys, who is not legally authorised to drive and was behind the wheel when the accident took place, said Shibesh Singh, deputy commissioner of police (south-west).
But since investigators pinned the blame for the accident on the truck driver, the boy was not booked. “We have booked the truck driver for causing death due to negligence and arrested him. In the same case, the car owner will be booked under the Motor Vehicle Act for allowing his minor son to drive,” said the officer.
The boy behind the wheel suffered severe injuries to his head and other parts and has been referred to a hospital in Gurugram, said the DCP, adding that the other three survivors escaped with relatively less grievous injuries.
The dead boy has been identified as Vedant Saxena, a class 12 student of Ryan International School, Vasant Kunj according to his father. An enthusiastic athlete who won many medals in running competitions, he lived with his parents and a younger sister.
“My son had left home on Wednesday evening for a night stay with his friends. They wanted to study together. He had said he would return home by morning,” said Saket Anand, his father. A relative, Ashok Saxena, added that Vedant was to leave for Daman on Saturday to represent his school in a debate and was with his friends to prepare for it.
According to the police probe, Vedant and one of the other four boys wanted to go for sports practice at the Dwarka Sports Complex. Together, they left in a car belonging to one of their fathers. The accident happened around 5.30 am.
The car was crossing an intersection near Welcome Hotel in Dwarka’s Sector 10 when a truck rammed it from behind, said a senior investigator on condition of anonymity. “The impact of the collision was such that the car swerved and hit a high road divider. The truck too lost control and overturned on the right side of the car, crushing it.”.
The front door of the car flung open, throwing Vedant out. “The fall from the car caused the boy severe injuries to his head. He was brought dead at a hospital. The other four boys were trapped inside the car, but had a miraculous escape”, said the investigator.
The accident drew many passersby, who informed the police and held on to the truck driver, later identified as Jaiveer, a 25-year-old resident of Dadri who did not suffer any serious injuries. He was transporting poultry.
“Many people helped to break open the car’s doors and rescue the injured occupants. The car was badly mangled and the occupants were lucky to have come out alive,” said the investigator.
DCP Singh said the medical examination of all the six people involved in the accident did not reveal any trace of alcohol in their blood.
Since a fatal accident involving a Mercedes car allegedly driven by a minor boy occurred in north Delhi in April 2016, Delhi Police has been filing cases against the owners of cars driven by minors involved in fatal accidents.
At present, the Motor Vehicle Act prescribes a penalty of Rs 1,000 for such vehicle owners. As per the Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill that is yet to come into effect, the vehicle owners can go to jail for up to three years if their car is driven by a minor when it is involved in a fatal accident.