Sir,

Sometime back, near the JLB-Kantharaj Urs Road intersection, my vehicle was behind a Mahindra XUV car and I noticed a boy  standing over the seat-headrest and popping almost half his body out of that car’s sunroof and wobbling to have a full view of the surroundings. I couldn’t resist myself from taking a picture since it was a shocking scene (see picture).

I continued following the vehicle till it took a different route and the boy was jolting and enjoying the fun in the moving car, unaware of the dangers involved.

Is this the way to allow children to have fun? This is nothing short of irresponsible parenting. Why don’t parents or occupants realise that sudden braking or deceleration would end up with serious injuries to children?

And any moment children above the sunroof may be hit by hanging tree branches and drooping cable wires.  Also, insects, dust and wood fragments may penetrate the eyeball with high impact and cause infection or bleeding, followed by impairment of vision.

Traffic Police must include this under the list of offences and penalise the parents who pamper and allow their children for such amusements.  Look at the way the advanced countries have stipulated seat and seat-belt laws for the safety  of children in cars. There, both the law and people value human life, but here we don’t.

 – Dr. M.N. Manjunath, CFTRI Layout, 4.12.2017

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