Two crashes. Two families shattered. Two very young drivers behind the wheel. And a country once again asking the same tired question: how many more deaths will it take before reckless driving is treated as the violence it is?
In Delhi’s Dwarka, 23-year-old Sahil Dhaneshra lay on the road, his mother recalling that he screamed for help for ten minutes before being taken to hospital. The SUV that hit him was allegedly driven by a minor without a licence, with 13 prior challans, many for overspeeding.
In Goa’s Assagao, 65-year-old Bhagat Ram Sharma, a tourist from Bhopal, was killed when a 19-year-old BBA student allegedly lost control of a Mahindra Thar. Police said the vehicle was allegedly driven in a rash and negligent manner. He was arrested and later released on bail.
These are not isolated tragedies. They are symptoms of a deeper rot.
Rising Crash Numbers
India has one of the highest road fatality burdens in the world. According to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways report on road accidents in India, over 1.6 lakh people died in road crashes in 2022, marking a sharp rise compared to previous years. A significant share of those involved in fatal crashes are young drivers between 18 and 35.
The data consistently shows overspeeding as the single biggest cause of road accidents. In several annual reports, overspeeding alone accounts for more than 60 percent of total road deaths. That means the cause is not mechanical failure or freak weather events. It is human choice.
Yet enforcement remains patchy. The Delhi crash involved a vehicle with multiple challans. If repeated violations do not lead to strong consequences, what message does that send?
Teen Drivers Trend
Both cases involve very young drivers. One allegedly a minor without a licence. The other a 19-year-old student. This is part of a disturbing pattern.
Psychologists have long documented that adolescent brains are still developing, especially the prefrontal cortex, which governs impulse control and risk assessment. Studies from institutions such as the National Institute of Mental Health have shown that young adults are more prone to sensation-seeking behaviour, especially in peer settings.
Combine that biological vulnerability with fast cars, social media validation, and weak enforcement, and you create a combustible mix.
In India, car ownership is increasingly tied to status. An SUV like the Mahindra Thar is marketed as rugged and powerful. For a 19-year-old holidaying with friends, the temptation to show control over such a machine can become a performance. Speed becomes spectacle.
But when spectacle meets public roads, strangers pay the price.
Money And Influence
Let us not pretend class and influence do not matter.
In 2024, the Pune Porsche crash case sparked national outrage when a 17-year-old allegedly driving a luxury car killed two tech professionals. The Juvenile Justice Board initially granted bail with conditions that included writing an essay on road safety. The order was later criticised, and the case triggered wider debate on leniency for the wealthy.
The message that episode sent was chilling. If you have resources, you can negotiate the narrative. You can afford top lawyers. You can secure interim bail to sit for board exams. You can wait out public anger.
Meanwhile, victims’ families navigate hospital bills, postmortem reports, police stations and court corridors with limited support. Justice, in India, is not only about law. It is about stamina and money.
Slow Court System
The Supreme Court of India has repeatedly expressed concern over delays in criminal trials. In cases involving Section 304A of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with causing death by negligence, proceedings can stretch for years.
Conviction rates in rash driving cases remain uneven across states. Even when convictions occur, sentences are often light. Before the 2019 amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act, penalties were widely criticised as too lenient. The amended Act increased fines and introduced stricter provisions. Yet enforcement on the ground depends on state machinery.
If challans pile up without leading to licence suspension, if repeat offenders remain on the road, then the deterrent effect collapses.
The Law Commission of India, in past reports, has recommended stricter frameworks for road safety enforcement. The Supreme Court also constituted a Committee on Road Safety headed by Justice K S Radhakrishnan to monitor implementation of safety measures. But implementation remains inconsistent.
Policy without execution is theatre.
Psychology Of Impunity
Why might a young driver believe he can get away with killing someone?
Part of it is structural. Bail is a right in many offences unless the crime falls under stricter categories. Courts often distinguish between intention and negligence. A crash, even fatal, is usually prosecuted as negligence unless there is clear evidence of intent.
Part of it is cultural. In many families, traffic violations are trivialised. Driving without a licence is dismissed as youthful mischief. A challan is seen as an inconvenience, not a warning.
Part of it is social reinforcement. Social media glorifies speed, stunts and luxury lifestyles. Viral reels show cars drifting on highways. Rarely do they show the blood on asphalt.
And part of it is inequality. When young people see others escape consequences because of powerful contacts, it corrodes moral restraint. If the system appears negotiable, risk calculation changes.
This is not to demonise youth. Most young drivers are responsible. But systems must be built for worst-case scenarios, not best intentions.
Governance Gaps
Where does governance fail?
First, licensing. Driving tests in many regions remain perfunctory. Reports by road safety experts have documented corruption in regional transport offices. Licences can be obtained without rigorous testing.
Second, enforcement. Traffic police are understaffed in many cities. Technology such as automated speed cameras is not uniformly deployed. Repeat offenders often continue driving until a catastrophic event forces attention.
Third, urban design. Poorly marked junctions, lack of speed-calming measures and weak pedestrian infrastructure amplify risk. The Delhi crash near Dwarka and the Goa junction in Assagao both raise questions about traffic management in mixed urban zones.
Fourth, victim support. India lacks a comprehensive national victim compensation and counselling system for road crash survivors. Families are left to fend for themselves.
Cost Of Justice
Imagine losing a son at 23. Imagine losing a husband at 65 while on holiday.
Now imagine spending years in court.
Legal fees, travel, lost workdays, emotional exhaustion. For families without financial cushion, pursuing justice becomes another burden. Many settle quietly. Many withdraw.
Public prosecutors are overworked. Police investigations can be uneven. Forensic reports are delayed. Each delay benefits the accused more than the grieving.
The Supreme Court has, in multiple judgments, emphasised the right to speedy trial as part of Article 21. Yet the ground reality remains slow and uneven.
Justice delayed is not abstract. It is the slow erosion of a family’s faith in the state.
What Must Change
If road deaths are preventable, then each avoidable crash is a governance failure.
Repeat traffic violators must face automatic suspension after a threshold. Minor drivers must trigger accountability for guardians under the Juvenile Justice Act where applicable. Data sharing between states must be seamless so that challans in Uttar Pradesh matter in Delhi.
Road safety education must move beyond token campaigns. It should be embedded in school curricula with psychological realism, not moral lectures.
Fast-track courts for fatal crash cases could ensure timely trials. Public disclosure of repeat offender data could increase transparency.
And most importantly, society must stop romanticising recklessness. A car is not a toy. It is a machine capable of instant irreversible harm.
When Sahil Dhaneshra lay on the road, screaming for help, and when Bhagat Ram Sharma’s family watched doctors declare him brought dead, those moments were not accidents in the moral sense. They were outcomes of layered neglect.
Every fatal crash leaves behind not just a body, but a question.
Whose life must be lost next before we decide that overspeeding is not bravado, but violence?
