CHENNAI: A vehicle rams into another and the offender scoots. It happens all the time, right? But there are no definitive stats that would give you the big picture on hit-and-run cases. For, the State crime record bureau, which is the repository of all incidents of crime, does not have a separate column for hit-and-run cases. All such data is dovetailed into an omnibus traffic accidents column.
According to the data available at the Chennai Suburban Police Commissionerate, unknown vehicles killed 70 people within its jurisdiction between January and May end this year. In all, 173 people were involved in accidents involving unknown vehicles. In other words, one such hit-and-run case occurs in the suburbs each day and one victim dies every alternate day. In all, till the end of May this year, there were 1,667 road accidents, 323 of which were fatal.
For its part, the Chennai city police claim to have recorded 35 fatal and 76 nonfatal cases involving unknown vehicles till June 25. In other words, one hit-and-run accident occurs in the city every 1.7 days and one such victim dies every five days.
Data from the Government General Hospital in the city too is fuzzy because they lump all trauma cases together in one category. On an average, the hospital receives between 30 and 50 trauma cases each day, according to sources. That would include cases from the neighbouring districts of Kancheepuram, Villupuram, Thiruvanamalai and Tiruvallur. How does one figure out the number of hit-and-run cases from the overall trauma figures?
Is it important to know? Absolutely. Because hit-and-run is a serious offence. Serious enough to be treated as felony in, for instance, in Florida, if the victim dies. Fuzzy data translates into fuzzy policy. That is why you don't find any serious study on the trend of hit-and-run cases across the country.
Not all cases involve rash drivers vrooming under the influence of alcohol. Some are accidents that occur despite careful driving. Besides, hit-and-run has been used to commit the 'perfect crime': Hiring hitmen to bump off an adversary. The hitmen get into a heavy vehicle, track the quarry and ensure a head on collision on a lonely stretch of a road. Job done, the killers escape. No eyewitnesses, no telltale fingerprints, no murder weapon, no messy aftermath. In the final analysis, it is just a figure in the 'fatal accidents involving unknown vehicles' column in the police records. Neat, see.
Despite the hazy picture, police officials point towards one trend: Many hit-and-run drivers are affluent and influential. If they are tracked down, they try to pull the strings to escape punishment, admits a senior police officer, adding that many cases collapse because of lack of eyewitnesses.
"Unless the crime is proved with sufficient evidence and the vehicle owner presented in court, the victim will not get any compensation from the insurance company,'' says a senior traffic investigation officer.
For example, "a real estate businessman vacated his house the day after his car knocked down a boy working at a roadside eatery in T Nagar to get the police off his back. However, the police managed to trace him down at his new address. When they confronted him with the evidence collected from the accident spot - a broken bumper of a Honda City - he said he did not own the vehicle and initially refused to admit he was responsible for the accident.
In another incident, a Hyundai i10 hit a two-wheeler near Loyola College during the day and sped away. The car's plastic number plate was shattered and its pieces kept falling off on the road along the vehicle's getaway route. The police collected the pieces, put them together and established the identity of the car owner, who was a big businessman. In yet another such case, an offender with deep pockets demanded the address of a traffic inspector who stopped him and threatened him with dire straits.
The biggest problem, according to police officers, is the people's lack of support following a hit-and-run accident. Instead of helping the victim get immediate medicare, they stay away from the accident site to avoid police harassment later. The least they could do is to send an anonymous letter or call from a public phone booth and inform the police control room or send in a text message to 9500099100.
Unless the vehicle owner is traced, the victim's family will not get anything other than the Rs 35,000 from the government as there will be no scope for compensation from the insurance company, says a police official.
Also read:
* Hit-and-run case: A licence to kill?
* No fullstops to misery for victims' family