Dhanas accident: Car not equipped with event data recorder, cops tell court

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Chandigarh, June 27

The Beetle car allegedly involved in the accident that took place in Dhanas on May 17 was not equipped with event data recorder (EDR). The Chandigarh police had made a request to Volkswagon to give opinion regarding the speed of the car at the time of accident.

The company replied that the vehicle was of 2010 model and it was not equipped with event data recorder. It said this facility was introduced in Beetel cars from year 2018 onwards.

The purpose of the EDR is to record date just prior to or during an accident. It may record airbag deployment information, car speed and engine throttle.

This information was disclosed by the police before a local court during the arguments on the bail application of Paramveer Singh, an accused in the accident case.

The investigating officer stated before the court that a request was made to the company, Volkswagon, to give opinion regarding the speed of the car at the time of accident.

The accident claimed three lives and left four other persons injured. The police registered an FIR on the complaint of a woman of Mani Majra. The woman said her sister was residing at EWS Colony, Dhanas. They were waiting for a bus. In the meantime, a red car, which was going towards Sarangpur at a high speed, struck against the motorcycle and hit other people at 5:45 pm.

On the complaint, the police registered the FIR under Sections 304, 337 and 279 of the IPC against the suspect.

The counsel for the applicant argued that immediately after the accident, an application was moved to preserve the CCTV footage of the place of accident and lodge an FIR against the erring motorcycle rider. The police did nothing. Later, an application under Section 156 (3) of the CrPC was moved to lodge the FIR against the rider of the bike involved in the said accident.

While granting bail to the suspect, the court said he was in custody for the past more than one month. The culpability of the person responsible for causing the accident would be determined during investigation and trial. The applicant (19) is a student and he is a national-level shooter. It is not the case of the prosecution that the applicant was under the influence of liquor. Rather, the accident took place in broad daylight at 5:45 pm when the applicant was returning after attending the sports training session at a nearby shooting range. No doubt, the consequences of the present accident had been heart rendering, but it was a road accident. Whether the accident took place due to negligence on part of the bike driver or not was also under investigation.