Underage driving: 14-year-old boy crashes dad's car in Chennai; hits auto, pedestrian

Chennai: A juvenile aged 14 years, who took his father's car for a joy ride with his 13-year-old friend, lost control of the vehicle and rammed an autorickshaw and an elderly pedestrian before crashing into a tree at Vadapalani. Two people were injured. The Pondy Bazaar traffic investigation police summoned the parents of the boys and took a written undertaking from them. A case was registered against the parents for allowing a minor to drive the car, which was seized.

Under the Motor Vehicles Rules introduced in Chennai in 2022, parents can face up to three years in jail and a fine of 25,000 if their child is involved in an accident. Police said that Shyam, 45, a resident of Rajanga Mathiya Veethi in Vadapalani, asked his 14-year-old son to place a cover on his car parked on 7th Street, Kumaran Nagar on Monday night. Instead, the boy took the car for a spin, picking up his friend and driving along Kumaran Nagar Main Road. While nearing the 5th Cross Street, he lost control of the vehicle and hit an autorickshaw parked on the roadside and an elderly pedestrian before crashing into a tree.

The injured were identified as Mahalingam, 69, and Gangadharan, 49, a food delivery agent, both from Saligramam. This is the second episode of an underage car driver being involved in a road accident in less than a week. On April 4, an SUV driven by a 17-year-old boy overturned near Vyasarpadi, injuring five people. According to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Tamil Nadu saw the highest number of road accidents caused by underage drivers in the country last year. A total of 11,890 road accidents involving underage drivers were reported across states and Union territories (UTs) in 2023-24, and 2,063 took place in Tamil Nadu.

Advocate R Chandar called out enforcement in TN, highlighting how in most cases parents get bail in the first hearing itself. "The bail provisions should be made stricter," he said.