Road rage victims live through long nightmare

KOLKATA: Friday''s dead couple, Sheikh Firoz Ahmed and Yasmin Begum, may have already become less than footnotes to the list of lives lost in mad bus races in Kolkata''s chaotic traffic.
But, for those who have lost their near and dear ones - or their limbs -to the same speed chase, life continues to be a nightmare even years after the mishap.
"I lost a close friend under similar circumstances (as Friday''s accident) on Durgapur bridge a couple of years ago.It makes my blood boil when I hear how easy it is for a truant driver to get behind the wheels, with a little help from ''helpful officials''," a bitter Koel Ghosh recalled on Monday.
Earlier this year, an accident on Bijon Setu snuffed out two lives - one of them was College Street publisher Pradip Nath - when a bus mowed through cars and scooters during peak traffic hour. For the Naths of Panditiya Place, the death still rankles as does the "lack of justice".
At another end of the city, Gurupada Basu''s family is still trying to come to grips with their loss. In November 1999, Basu was crushed by a speeding minibus.
The Thakurpukur family now feels that something much more than the present set of laws is required to bring rash drivers to book.
"Punishing the driver would not have brought him back to life but it would have, at least, served as a deterrent," remarked a close associate of their family.
"Lack of accountability encourages the driver to endanger lives," said senior advocate Pradip Kumar Pal Chowdhuri.
The Ghosh Dastidars of Bosepukur had a providential escape in June 2001 when a minibus hit their car near the EM Bypass-RB Avenue Connector.
Alo Ghosh Dastidar was seriously injured in her left eye, which needed 29 stitches, and sustained serious injuries to the body.
"Even now I get the jitters when I a bus comes close," she said.