An eight-year-old child, riding pillion on a scooter, fell on the road and was hit by a taxi on Raja Dinendra Road in north Kolkata on Tuesday afternoon.
Police said the boy, who was wearing a helmet, has been admitted to hospital.
The accident bore resemblance to the crash that was reported in Alipore last week, in which 18-month-old Sloke Jaiswara — who was riding pillion on his mother’s lap on a scooter — was flung off on the road and came under the wheels of a trailer.
On Tuesday, Mohammad Aban Ashraf slipped off the pillion of the scooter and fell on the road around 1pm.
“The scooter lost balance and skidded on Raja Dinendra Road. Before the child could be picked up, he was hit by a taxi that was trailing behind. The child was wearing a helmet,” said an officer at Burtolla police station.
The child was taken to the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, where he was admitted, the police said.
Cops did not say whether the child was travelling with his parents.
The police said the child’s family has not lodged any complaint as the expenses of his treatment are being borne by the owner of the taxi that allegedly hit the child.
Metro has been reporting how unsafe it could be for children to ride pillion on a two-wheeler, with or without a helmet.
Around two weeks ago, a Class VII student of The Newtown School, who was riding pillion on her mother’s scooter, died after she fell off the two-wheeler when its handle got snagged in a truck’s rear fender and was crushed under the wheels of the vehicle on VIP Road. The child’s mother had escaped with relatively fewer injuries.
“It is unsafe to make children sit and ride pillion. It is equally unsafe if a pillion-rider carries a child on the lap or in the arms because if the two-wheeler suffers a jerk, the person might loosen his or her grip on the child and the kid may fall,” said an
officer in the traffic department.
Wearing a helmet is mandatory while riding a two-wheeler but a child’s head is too small for any headgear. The police said
one should carry a child in a baby gear while riding a two-wheeler.
Biker dead
In another road crash, a few kilometres off EM Bypass, a motorcyclist died after being hit by a truck on Tuesday morning.
Police identified the motorcyclist as Batakrishna Karmakar, 60, a resident of
Uttar Kashipur. He was travelling through Bhangar Satulia Road when he was hit by a truck.
Karmakar was wearing a helmet, the police said. He was taken to the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, where he was declared dead. The truck was impounded but the driver fled.