When high-powered luxury cars, alcohol and youthful recklessness come together, roads can quickly turn from public spaces into scenes of tragedy. The horrific crash on Mumbai’s Coastal Road early Sunday morning is the latest reminder that carelessness on roads can cost lives.
A black BMW, reportedly travelling at around 120 kmph, lost control, smashed through a barrier and plunged nearly 75 feet onto an under-construction site. Three young lives were lost in an instant, leaving families shattered and a community struggling to come to terms with the tragedy, while the fourth occupant was battling for his life.
What makes such incidents even more disturbing is that they are rarely without warning. The Mumbai crash points to a wider problem playing out across India’s cities and tourist destinations — from Mumbai’s expressways to Goa’s roads. The Mumbai case has also brought into focus repeat offending. The 21-year-old reportedly at the wheel, Shanay Gajjar, had earlier been booked in March for speeding and hitting another vehicle. In August, he was again booked following a public disturbance in an allegedly intoxicated condition and for allegedly harassing police personnel.
The question is about the strange connection between youth, premium cars, drunken driving and overspeeding. For some young and affluent motorists, expensive cars and the financial ability to absorb fines can create a dangerous sense that the rules are negotiable.
Goa, too, has seen the consequences of this dangerous combination. The state recorded 7,808 cases of underage driving in 2025, according to official figures. The mix of a party-oriented tourism culture, easy availability of rental vehicles and poor adherence to traffic rules has made some of the state’s roads increasingly dangerous. In April 2026, a 21-year-old, identified as the son of a prominent businessman, was speeding in a Mini Cooper S when the vehicle struck and killed a 23-year-old hotel employee who was on her way home. In February 2026, a 19-year-old visitor driving a rented Mahindra Thar allegedly rammed into a hatchback in Assagao, killing a 65-year-old tourist from Bhopal and injuring several others.
Goa has seen a lot of accidents involving Thar vehicles; the common grouse is that rented vehicles are often resorting to reckless driving. The transport department needs to consider stronger verification systems for high-performance rental vehicles, along with speed governors and telemetry systems that can flag dangerous driving. Goa now has expansive highways with speed restrictions. The Porvorim flyover has a speed limit of 65 kmph. Unfortunately, vehicles don’t follow these simple rules. The accident that claimed two lives days after the flyover was thrown open saw the car speeding before crashing into a moving truck.
There needs to be a cultural shift in the way reckless driving is viewed. Parents who place high-performance vehicles in the hands of young drivers have a responsibility to ensure that those drivers understand what is at stake. A car may be a status symbol, but on a public road it is first and foremost a responsibility.
Until reckless high-speed driving is treated as a serious threat to public safety rather than brushed aside as youthful indiscretion, the cycle will continue. And each time it does, it is not only the reckless driver who pays the price, but also innocent road users, families and ordinary citizens who are left to bear the consequences.
