Cars are fun and an equally dangerous thing to have. It all depends on who is behind the wheel. In another freak incident, a 12-year old Tiger was killed after an overspeeding vehicle rammed into him on the Ramnagar-Nainital highway stretch. It is high time we learn from all these unfortunate incidents and become better drivers on public roads.
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India, unfortunately, has a reputation when it comes to drivers and driving habits and more often than not, our reputation precedes. Fatal accidents are very common day in and day out. No wonder India had the highest number of road deaths in 2019 with a rather surprising tally of 1,51,113, translating to 414 a day and 17 every hour and overspeeding is one of the major contributors to that tally.
Common driving sense of at least being in check or under the speed limit on public roads like the ones with hospitals, schools, wildlife sanctuaries is maybe too much to ask for, of us. We not only endanger our lives but more so of the others around. The worst part is when someone else, like the Tiger, in this case, has to pay by his life for our negligence. Driving at rational speeds when you are crossing such areas isn’t something huge to ask for, especially when you are driving through an area where wild animals are a frequent sight. Had the car been a little slow, the innocent wild cat would have escaped the unfortunate incident.
The Tiger has been cremated after a post-mortem and a relevant case has been registered against the driver under the relevant sections of Wildlife Protection Act of 1972.and vehicle involved in the accident has also been seized by the authorities which happen to be a silver Toyota Innova Crysta.
“An SUV hit the tiger near Bhakra bridge on Ramnagar-Nainital highway around 9 PM on Wednesday. Our team rushed to the spot on receiving the information,” said Khyali Ram Arya, range officer of Fatehpur forest range, in Ramnagar forest division.
Tigers are an already endangered species as mentioned by International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species and incidents like this worsen the scenario. We need to start taking responsibilities and start behaving more diligently, more humanly. If you love speed, go for a track day and show your mettle there. Who knows, you might be a future Motorsport star. But on the roads at least, drive responsibly, drive safe.
Jim Corbett National Park is the oldest national park in India and was established in 1936 as Hailey National Park to protect the endangered Bengal tiger. It is located in Nainital district and Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand and was named after hunter and naturalist Jim Corbett. The park was the first to come under the Project Tiger initiative. It comprises of more than 520 sq. km of land.