4-year-old boy run over by speeding car in Mumbai, teen driver arrested
A four-year-old boy was killed in Mumbai after being hit by a speeding car, which officials said was being driven by a 19-year-old. The incident occurred in Wadala area, and the child was knocked down when he was playing on the road, police said.
Bhushan Gole, the accused was reversing his Hyundai Creta. The driver didn’t flee the spot and has been arrested, police said.
“Prima facie, the driver was not under the influence of alcohol,” a police official told.
The driver was arrested under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) and further investigation is underway.
The family of the four-year-old lives on a footpath in the area, and his father is a worker.
Deadly Kurla bus crash
The tragic accident comes in the wake of another deadly road incident in Mumbai earlier this month. On December 9, a driver of a civic-run electric bus, operated by the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking, lost control of the vehicle, causing a devastating crash in Kurla. The crash killed seven people, injured 42 others, and damaged more than 20 vehicles. The incident was captured on CCTV and has heightened concerns about road safety in the city.
Police arrested the driver Sanjay More and charged him with culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
Concerns over road safety in Maharashtra
According to a recent report by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Maharashtra is among the states with the highest number of road accidents in India. Between 2018 and 2022, the state recorded 66,370 road accident deaths, ranking third after Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Speaking during the Parliament winter session, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said that 1,78,000 lives are claimed by road accidents every year and 60 per cent of the victims are in the age group of 18-34 years.
