Rash driving by some e-rickshaw drivers puts lives of passengers at risk

Srinagar, June 20: Rash driving and overloading by some e-rickshaw drivers has put lives of passengers at risk.

Since the introduction of e-rickshaws in the summer capital, passengers have been hoping for better transport facilities at affordable rates. The passengers, however, said that the unchecked rash driving and overloading have put their lives at risk.

On a daily basis, videos of e-rickshaw accidents, rash driving, and overloading are surfacing on social media showing how lives of passengers are being put at risk. On Saturday, another video of an e-rickshaw surfaced on social media that showed a driver indulging in rash driving. In the video, the overspeeding e-rickshaw was rushing in a zig-zag manner and almost turning turtle. The netizens reacted sharply, appealing to authorities to tighten the noose around such irresponsible drivers.

“Such drivers are a threat to society who are putting the lives of others at risk. Strict action should be taken by authorities, and the license of such drivers should be cancelled,” a netizen wrote.

The commuters in Srinagar said that the overspeeding of these e-rickshaws has made it risky for other commuters to navigate.

“Whenever I see these e-rickshaws plying on the road, I get alert. They will not only risk their lives, but also ours. We can have accidents unnecessarily because of them. Earlier we were only concerned about Auto-rickshaws, now these e-rickshaws are worse. Most of these are driven by minors, and authorities should take strict action,” said Manzoor Ahmad, a commuter.

Over the past few months, scores of e-rickshaw accidents resulted in death of various individuals in Srinagar. Some of these e-rickshaws plunged into water bodies in Srinagar, which led to fatalities. Recently various passengers got injured when e-rickshaws turned turtle in downtown.

“Many of these rickshaws are driven by minors. Our roads are also in very bad shape, which increases the risk. In such circumstances, there should be continuous checks on rash driving, and the guilty should be punished,” said Aashiq Ahmad, a local from Downtown.

Officials from Traffic Police said that they are continuously carrying out drives about such issues. “We carried out various such drives in which minors driving e-rickshaws were held, and their vehicles were seized. We will continue to keep a check on such issues and continue our drives against every traffic violation,” said the official.