Bike stunts claimed yet another life last week when a young boy died near India Gate while performing a stunt on the road. Reports state that 17-year-old Aman Man was trying to pull off a stunt in the course of which he lost control. Though cops have long been trying to stop these biker stunts, many youngsters continue to give them the slip and enjoy their date with speed thrills in the cover of darkness.
Delhiites agree that police patrolling has managed to put a stop to these stunts in some areas that used to be the favourite haunts of these bikers, but say that there are many areas where this problem still persists. While Satyendra Garg, Joint CP, Traffic Police, Delhi was unavailable for comment, he mentioned on the official page of Delhi Traffic Police on Facebook, “If this newspaper report is correct that motor cycle rider was 17 years old, while we are pained by this unnecessary loss of life, has not the family abetted the death by giving motor cycle to a minor who cannot have even driving license, forget ability to do stunts. While we realise our responsibility in curbing violation of rules, people have to realise pain is all of those who lose their near and dear ones in these unwarranted accidents. (sic)” Interestingly, the comment received more than a hundred likes.
These young bikers meet up near carefully selected lanes for their post-midnight rides. Arvind Saina, a 22-year-old from West Delhi, informs that Tilak Nagar is one area where these bikers come out at night to perform their stunts. “And not just the main roads, you can spot them near small lanes too. Their parents seem to be clueless about what these kids are upto. Once when we complained against them to the local cops, they stopped but after a few days they were back again. And they are kids from friends’ families, so you can’t really do much about it,” he says.
Poonam Chaudhary, a government employee, further states, “If you go to ITO area at night, you can easily spot young boys driving bikes rashly around midnight. I have seen them driving at breakneck speed and no action is ever taken.” For Sanjeev Khanna, resident of Patel Nagar, these stunts are a common sight. “Even in Vikas Puri, these deadly stunts are a common sight,” he says.
Young bikers shrug off the complaints and claim they don’t mean to harm anyone. “We just meet at night, perform a few stunts on the spot and go home. We make sure no one is doing something that can prove fatal. I know a few bikers who love dangerous stunts but I don’t think you can blame the cops for it. It’s a very personal choice as long as you are not causing harm,” says a biker from Janak Puri.
Most of these bikers don’t feel guilty and instead believe “there’s nothing wrong” with it. Raghav, an avid biker from East Delhi says, “Just like guys with cars race against each other, most of us just go to a secluded area and perform stunts. It’s a sport. Earlier we used to do it outside our locality but neighbours complained about the noise, so now we go to the outskirts.”
Few names changed on request