Are social media influencers new threat to road safety in India?
For the sake of viral videos and reels on social media platforms like Instagram and YouTube, influencers are increasingly seen violating traffic rules and pulling off stunts on public roads. Despite repeated urge from police to avoid traffic violations, influencers have resorted to actions that have led them to trouble, even jail. Some of the most recent cases show how brazenly such acts violate traffic rules and pose threat to road safety that can often lead to fatal accidents. Within the span of last couple of weeks, Delhi Police and Noida Police have fined as many as three such influencers with hefty fine of more than ₹one lakh.
Here is a look at five most recent instances when road stunts posed life threats to influencers and other commuters putting road safety at risk.
During the Holi festival, video of two girls applying colours on each other on a moving scooter went viral. The video shows the duo sitting on the backseat of a Honda Activa scooter facing each other as a third person kept riding. The video triggered angry reaction from netizens alerting the Noida Police about the traffic violations the duo committed. The Noida Traffic Police took cognisance of the matter and swung into action. The cops issued challan of ₹33,000 against all three people seen riding the scooter in the viral video. They were fined for violating as many as six traffic rules, including riding without helmet - the most common traffic offence in India.
Around the same time of the first incident, yet another scooter stunt video from Noida surfaced online. The video showed a girl standing on the backseat of a Honda Activa scooter as she stretched her arm as if trying to enact the famous ‘Titanic pose’. The scooter barely moved a few metres before the girl fell down flat on her face while trying to perform the stunt. The rider slammed on the brakes in time to avoid running her over. Neither of the two were wearing helmet or any other protective gears. Taking cognisance of the video that went viral on social media, Noida Police slapped similar fine on the duo.
Last week, a video went viral of a social media influencer blocking traffic intentionally shoot reels as well as driving his Isuzu pickup truck dangerously in west Delhi's Paschim Vihar area. The video drew ire from netizens who demanded strict action. The person was seen blocking a busy road near the main flyover on outer Ring Road in Paschim Vihar. He stopped his pickup truck in the middle of the road, stepped out of the vehicle with a woman to pose for the cameras. The video also shows how his action led to a long queue of vehicles stuck behind his pickup truck. Later, he was also seen driving the vehicle in a dangerous manner with the driver side door open.
A day later, Delhi Police arrested the influencer, identified as Pradeep Dhaka from Nangloi. He was also slapped with a hefty fine of ₹36,000 for several traffic violation under the Motor Vehicles Act. These violations included driving without licence, driving dangerously, RC violation, fancy number plate, blowing of pressure horn, use of coloured light and tinted glasses.
A more recent video surfaced last weekend of a Honda City sedan being driven on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway with all doors wide open. The video was shot near the CWG Khel Gaon complex showing the car moving towards Ghaziabad with several other vehicles around it. Netizens have shared the video a number of times urging Delhi Police to take action against such dangerous driving which can put other road users at risk.
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A more recent video of two girls driving a red Mercedes has also gone viral drawing criticism from social media users. The video shows a third person perched on the bonnet while the vehicle is being driven on a highway near Delhi. What first appeared to be a case of road rage, a closer look revealed that the person on the bonnet was actually shooting video of the two girls on a drive. All three were oblivious to the fact that the person shooting could have been seriously injured, or worse, lost his life in case the car take a sudden turn, brake or get hit by another vehicle. Delhi Police has not yet taken cognisance of this case where several traffic rules were violated.
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