The city is held hostage by drag racers every night and despite several measures, these reckless riders take over the CBD areas such as the Brigade Road and even MG Road. With complete disregard to the safety of others, the riders zip through the roads without helmets at nights and though the Traffic and even Law & Order police claimed to be taking measures, when checked, this newspaper only witnessed the helplessness of the cops and the daring of the bikers.
With mounting complaints from the general public, the efforts of the cops seem more like an excuse then a definitive action. At each point that this newspaper visited, bikers without helmets, riding triples and even under-aged riders, simply zipped past as the police stood and watched. As per police sources, the Traffic Department in the last few weeks has received several complaints of drag racing, including pedestrians being injured. On Wednesday midnight, the Law and Order police, along with the Traffic Police tried to clamp down on the bikers, however, the drive ended much before midnight while the bikers usually come out after midnight.
Near the parade ground, the cops had a hard time when a group of seven bikers zoomed in, saw the police and turned back into the oncoming traffic and zig-zagged their way back into Commercial Street. A Traffic inspector said, “How many will you catch? One goes, another comes; I have been here for over three hours. We just can’t go on booking cases. Here at night, this is the usual scene.” At the end of the day, it was not lack of action but inefficiency in enforcement that allowed the drag racers to go scot free.