Gone are the days when a Yezdi or an Enfield was the dream bike of the 16-year-olds. The new generation wants Ducatis, Ninjas and Hayabusas in their garage.
The need for speed and the love of life in the fast lane has turned out to be a deadly cocktail for the young generation. There have been cases where youngsters have been involved in bike races, drag races and dangerous riding on busy streets.
And expressways in and around the Capital have become the new illegal racing circuits for them. This has led to a slew of accidents resulting in fatalities and involving youngsters owning powerful bikes.
Two final-year MBA students of a Delhi institute were killed in February while racing on their high-power sports motorcycle with at least a dozen other youths on the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway.
Sanjiv Raj (22), a resident of Inderpuri, was riding the bike and racing towards Greater Noida. About 5 km ahead of the Sector 125 campus of Amity University, his bike hit a culvert. He was killed on the spot.
The pillion rider, Amit Chopra (23), died later in Noida’s Kailash Hospital.
On Wednesday, two bike riders fell off the Dwarka Flyover when their bike hit a road divider on the flyover. They were both allegedly drunk and speeding.
Many speed junkie motorcyclists and car drivers have used the Noida-Greater Noida Highway as their racing tracks.
{{/usCountry}}Many speed junkie motorcyclists and car drivers have used the Noida-Greater Noida Highway as their racing tracks.
{{/usCountry}}“From time to time, we get information about people using the highway for illegal races. Whenever we get such information, we rush to the spot and clear out the area of these dangerous drivers. Catching them is difficult as most ride powerful bikes,” said a police official.
The official added that people come from Delhi to race here. They do a 47-km race by going back and forth on the 23.5-km-long expressway. The bikes used are often worth over Rs 15 lakh each. The racers have formed clubs and keep changing their timings.
Siddharth (18) was riding an imported sports bike.
His bike collided with a truck carrying LPG cylinders on the South City Flyover in Gurgaon. The bike fell on him and caught fire. He was charred in the accident.
karan.Choudhury@hindustantimes.com