Protect pedestrians: Motorists stop for cats not humans, says court

Indian motorists will stop when a cat crosses the road because of superstition but will not stop when humans are crossing the same area, a Delhi court has said while calling on the government to come up with schemes to protect pedestrians.

Motorists will stop when a cat crosses the road because of superstition but will not stop when humans are crossing the same area, a Delhi court has said while calling on the government to come up with schemes to protect pedestrians.

“There are people in India who stop ‘when a cat crosses the road’ but it’s very unfortunate that vehicles don’t stop when a pedestrian does,” said Motor Accident Claims Tribunal judge Mohinder Virat while ruling on an accident case in which the deceased was hit while making his way across Akbar Road in Lutyens’ Delhi .

The court was hearing a petition filed by Delhi resident Anita Goud asking for compensation after her husband Tanwar Singh Goud was killed in an accident while he was crossing the road. Goud and her two children — an 18-year-old son and a minor daughter — approached the court after the insurance company alleged the deceased was partially negligent in crossing the street.

Awarding the family nearly Rs 41 lakh as compensation, the court noted that police had presented no concrete proof to show that Tanwar had been negligent.

“Most pedestrians die because of a lack of driving sense, underpasses, overbridges, subways... It’s high time that government took appropriate steps regarding safety of the pedestrians,” it said.