Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has warned young drivers against speeding and cited the example of India keeper-batter Rishabh Pant, who was involved in a serious accident while driving himself home from Delhi and escaped with a few serious injuries and nothing major.
Rishabh Pant was on his way to Roorkee, his hometown in Uttarakhand to celebrate New Year with his family when he was involved in a serious car accident that resulted in his car, a Mercedes being gutted in a fire and he was rescued by locals.
Pant got basic treatment in a local hospital before being shifted to Max hospital in Dehradun where he underwent plastic surgery for burns, cuts, and abrasions on his body.
The BCCI then airlifted him to Mumbai’s Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital where he underwent further surgery to repair the torn ligaments in his right knee and will begin his rehab shortly.
Rishabh Pant likely to be discharged from hospital after two weeks: Report
This accident, which happened on December 30, has ruled Pant out for atleast 6-9 months.
As per reports, Pant said that he tried to avoid a pothole, so the car swerved and the accident happened.
Sunil Gavaskar in his column for Sportstar wrote: “Rishabh Pant’s lucky escape is a good wake-up call for youngsters who get their thrill by speeding. The one thing to remember in India is that however good you are as a driver, others may not be as good, and it’s their mistake which can cause an accident.
The quality of roads is not always the best, meaning an accident can happen any time. While travelling to and from the T20 game in Pune recently, we found that there are many miles of road which are bumpy even on the famed Mumbai-Pune expressway.”
“The other concerning factor is that driving licenses are given without adequate checks. Our driving schools are a joke. Most schools are interested in churning out so-called drivers. This is not simply about driving straight or reversing properly and parking correctly. It is about being able to read road signs and to drive accordingly,” he added.
He further talked about the disregard for rules in India and said that traffic rules are broken mostly by professional drivers, regardless of whether they are driving corporate vehicles or public vehicles.
He hoped that Rishabh Pant recovers soon and said that the Indian government should think of making him the brand ambassador for road safety in the country.
“Seeing the number of deaths and near-fatal accidents on Indian roads as the commissioner for Road Safety World Series has brought out this rant. I am not even talking about those who barely survive and are physically challenged for the rest of their lives.
Hopefully, young Rishabh will recover quickly and be back in action sooner that later. The government of India would then be smart if it uses him as brand ambassador for road safety, and through him reach out to ensure that more and more drivers – especially the professional ones – become aware of the traffic signs and rules to reduce the number of accidents on our roads,” Gavaskar wrote further.
Rishabh Pant released his first statement since the accident and thanked the people who rescued him and got him to the hospital in time, the doctors who treated him in Dehradun and in Mumbai and the BCCI.
(Sportstar inputs)
