Class 11 student of Punjab’s Bathinda driving at high speed crashes car into tree, dies; had posted speedometer video on Instagram

Tribune News Service

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Bathinda, April 10

A student of Class 11 died after he allegedly crashed his car into a tree on Tuesday. He was allegedly driving at a high speed.

The 16-year-old boy was He was returning back after dropping his mother at Bhagta bus stand. The incident took outside a marriage place at Bajakhana road near Bhagta.

The boy seemed to be obsessed with the speed. Earlier also in his insta stories he had posted videos showing a car speed between 160-180 km per hours.  One such video dates back to December 31, 2023. 

The deceased has been identified as Uday Partap Singh, a student of Delhi Public School, Bathinda.

He belonged to Moga district, but due to reportedly dispute between his father and mother, he was staying with his mother at his maternal family house in Sirewala village in Bhagta block in the district.

Despite the fact that children below 18 years are not legally allowed to drive two-wheelers or any other vehicle, underage driving is rampant in the city.

Teenage students can be seen risking their lives by driving two-wheelers at breakneck speed while traffic cops look the other way.

With the city being a hub of coaching centres, children as young as 13-14 years can be seen riding two-wheelers and those aged between 15-16 years can be seen driving cars as they make their way to the coaching centres.

The students, nowadays, are seen going to schools by their own vehicles than in school vans or buses.

One of the school teacher of private school in Bathinda city on the condition of anonymity said it had become a fad among students to drive bikes and cars. “These teenagers love to flaunt their vehicles. They often overspeed, jump red lights, make illegal turns and indulge in rash driving. By giving vehicles to these school students, parents put their wards in grave danger,” the teacher added.

She said stricter checking on roads is one part of the solution, but ultimately the responsibility lies with the parents who are bound by law not to allow underage children to drive.

“You can stand outside any of the schools in the morning and the evening and witness the huge number of underage drivers plying two-wheelers in a rash manner in order to impress their friends or for a thrill,” said a city resident Gagandeep Singh.

Three months back, two MBBS students had died due to overspeeding in Bathinda.

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