From Salman Khan to Noida’s Lamborghini: The Growing Toll of Reckless Driving

By Poonam Sharma The recent Lamborghini accident in Noida, which left two workers critically injured, has again raised the issue of road safety in the spotlight. In preliminary investigations, the luxury vehicle was said to be overspeeding when it rammed into the workers on Sunday, March 30, 2025. The two victims, who were working in the region, were from Chhattisgarh and had leg fractures, although their condition is reported to be stable after hospitalization.

The vehicle was being driven by Deepak, a car dealer, in front of the owner of the vehicle, Mridul Tiwari, a Noida resident. The accident took place at Sector 94, the city’s most congested zone, when the Lamborghini lost control and struck the workers, showing the risks that can be generated by speeding cars on city roads.

Though investigations are still in progress, the witnesses say the Lamborghini was speeding at a terrifying pace. Whether this was the reason for the accident is not yet known, but the accident has again triggered public outrage and fresh fears over the rising rate of road deaths in India.

This accident is just one of the many fatal crashes due to overspeeding and rash driving. Road accidents and deaths have been rising at an alarming level in the last five years, and speeding has been one of the major reasons. Road deaths have gone up by over 10% in the last five years, as per recent figures provided by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).

More than 150,000 individuals were killed and over 450,000 injured in road accidents in 2020 alone. Things have only gotten worse since then, with more individuals driving faster automobiles and numerous drivers ignoring traffic laws without fear of penalty.

Among the most publicized cases that brought to light the worsening threat of road killings was the one concerning Bollywood star Salman Khan. In 2015, Salman Khan was involved in a hit-and-run accident in Mumbai, where a homeless man was killed and others were injured when Khan’s SUV allegedly ran over them. The incident caused widespread outrage and debate regarding the privileges of the rich and powerful in the context of road safety laws.

The case led to a national discussion about the unaccountability of high-profile people, who are usually able to escape the repercussions of their actions as they are wealthy and powerful. This further led to a flurry of media and public debate surrounding road accidents, especially among vulnerable segments of society who are usually the victims of these accidents.

The Lamborghini accident in Noida is a poignant reminder of the fatal duo of high-speed travel and lack of enforcement of road rules. In a place like Noida, where daily traffic snarls are an everyday occurrence, overspeeding is prevalent, especially by the owners of luxury cars, who tend to drive their cars as if there was no tomorrow while disregarding everyone else’s safety.

Experts also opine that the rise in road accidents can be contributed to by bad road infrastructure and poor law enforcement. While there has been improvement in traffic management in big cities, smaller towns and suburbs such as Noida still suffer from unsafe roads, poorly managed infrastructure, and inefficient policing.

One of the major reasons behind the increase in road deaths is the unwillingness of most to obey speed restrictions and safety procedures. Although laws exist, they are not necessarily enforced, and fines for offenders such as speeding, reckless driving, and alcohol driving are light or infrequently applied.

Along with this, the mania of speed and luxury vehicles is gaining ground, especially among young people. In India, growing affordability of luxury cars has meant increasing numbers of people driving cars with high-powered engines capable of easily crossing dangerous speed limits. This along with overall disrespect for road rules has created a spiraling incidence of road deaths.

India witnessed a 10.3% rise in road accidents from 2015 to 2020, as per the road safety report of MoRTH in 2020. Fatalities also experienced a steep increase, from about 140,000 deaths in 2015 to more than 150,000 deaths in 2020.

In 2021, the accidents dipped marginally due to the country-wide lockdown following the COVID-19 pandemic, but as the curbs relaxed in 2022, the cases rose again. In the first quarter of 2023 itself, India had more than 30,000 road accidents and a whopping 12,000 deaths. The rising trend in deaths indicates an immediate need for stricter traffic rules, improved enforcement, and improvement in road infrastructure to stem the rising toll.

Also, of serious concern is that the victims in these accidents tend to be proportionally from low-income backgrounds, including daily wage earners, manual laborers, and pedestrians. In most of these instances, they are mere bystanders and happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time because speeding cars suddenly swerve onto the sidewalk or do not heed important intersections. 

Following such tragedies, the question is: what is to be done so that such deadly accidents are avoided? Specialists contend that the government needs to act in a many-sided way to meet road accidents. 

To tackle the rising number of road fatalities, several measures need to be implemented. Strict enforcement of traffic rules is crucial, including increased fines, tougher penalties, and better monitoring of speed limits, which could significantly reduce speeding incidents. Additionally, enhancing road infrastructure by improving road conditions, adding pedestrian crossings, and placing speed bumps in high-risk areas can help minimize accidents and fatalities. Public awareness campaigns are also essential, encouraging drivers to follow traffic laws and educating the public about road safety, ultimately changing the mindset of negligent drivers. Lastly, improving surveillance and policing through the installation of more speed cameras and increasing the number of roadblocks will help catch violators, deterring reckless driving and making roads safer for everyone.

Finally, the ghastly Lamborghini accident in Noida highlights the looming crisis of India’s roadkill. It is high time now for the government and society alike to be serious about road safety to avoid such loss of human lives and help maintain the integrity of vulnerable pedestrian and driver lives.