Road Trauma

Rising accident numbers involving rented vehicles demands decisive action by state

According to the Oxford Dictionary, an accident is an “unexpected, unplanned, and unfortunate event that happens by chance.” Road accidents involving vehicles have plagued Goa for a long time now. Two of the many popular road safety slogans — ‘Accidents don’t happen; they are caused’ and ‘Booze it and lose it’ — seem to perfectly reflect what is happening on Goan roads.

A woman critically injured after being hit by a speeding rent-a-car on the NH66 at Sirlim in South Goa on Tuesday is one of the many unfortunate two-wheeler users who have met with accidents despite following all traffic rules. The 44-year-old woman from Margao had to undergo surgery after suffering multiple fractures to her hip, neck, and legs. The accident was, by a quirk of fate, recorded on the dashboard camera of a car behind her. The footage clearly shows the moment the woman was flung off her two-wheeler after an SUV struck her while speeding along the shoulder of the road and overtaking on the wrong side. The footage also clearly shows the impact throwing the woman onto the road in front of another moving car, and her two-wheeler being hurled several feet away. The quick reaction of the driver of the car fitted with the dashboard camera prevented the woman from being run over, as she fell directly in front of its wheels.

The swift and decisive police intervention led to the arrest of a teenager, a native of Maharashtra, who allegedly drove the rented car on the wrong side of the road and struck the woman riding a scooter from behind. He has been remanded in police custody in the hit-and-run case. The police have rightfully arrested the accused for attempted murder. Now they must ensure that conviction takes place in this case so that justice is delivered to the two-wheeler rider.

The case, however, should not end with the conviction of the guilty, because this will definitely not be the last such accident on Goan roads. The rent-a-car facility available in Goa has been one of the key reasons for road accidents, with drunken driving following closely. In fact, the Transport Minister, Mauvin Godinho, had to assure the state assembly that the government had placed a freeze on the issuance of new rent-a-car licenses and permits.

The Economic Survey 2025–26 reported that around 6,762 rent-a-car permits had been issued by the government, while as of December 31, 2025, the number of vehicles registered in Goa was 14.45 lakh. These statistics are mind-boggling, especially considering the fact that a lot of drunken driving takes place in the state, involving both locals and tourists. In 2024, the number of drunken driving cases registered by the police was 5,346, followed by 4,274 in the subsequent calendar year. Incidentally, on the same day as the Sirlim accident, a video of a totally inebriated woman walking on the road with a beer can in her hand went viral. The reel also showed her car lying in a trench along the road.

Today, human lives have become cheap — more so on the roads. Every day, a couple of lives are lost in vehicular accidents and soon forgotten. The trauma faced by the victim’s family, however, is lifelong. It is high time the authorities apply their minds to this problem and handle the traffic scenario in Goa with an iron hand.