A 26-year-old woman has lost her life in a crash involving a 21-year-old man who police say was riding a motorcycle at high speed, weaving through the road in a zigzag manner and driving without a licence.
Maahu Hassan, 21, of Th. Dhiyamigili, was remanded in custody for 15 days by the Criminal Court following the serious crash on Sosan Road late Wednesday night.
Police told the court that Maahu was riding at high speed and driving dangerously in a zigzag manner before colliding with another motorcycle. Three people were injured in the crash, including the 26-year-old woman whose condition was described as very serious. She later lost her life.
A 22-year-old man was also injured.
What makes the tragedy even more concerning is Maahu’s history on the road.
Police told the court that he had already been caught and fined four times this year for driving without a licence.
Yet, despite those previous offences, he was once again riding a motorcycle without a licence and, according to police, doing so recklessly and at high speed.
This was not simply a momentary mistake on the road. A person who had repeatedly been caught riding without a licence was again behind the handlebars, allegedly weaving through the road in a zigzag manner. This time, the consequences were irreversible.
A 26-year-old woman who had recently secured a good job and was beginning to build her future has lost her life in a crash involving a 21-year-old man who police say was riding a motorcycle at high speed, weaving through the road in a zigzag manner and driving without a licence.
The primary responsibility for the dangerous riding lies with the person who chose to ride in such a manner. But the circumstances also raise questions about how he repeatedly gained access to motorcycles despite his previous offences.
If people knowingly lent or provided motorcycles to someone who had repeatedly been caught riding without a licence, their actions also deserve scrutiny. This is not necessarily limited to the motorcycle involved in Saturday night’s crash. If motorcycles had repeatedly been made available to him despite his previous offences, how was he able to continue returning to the road?
A person without a licence cannot legally ride. Repeatedly providing such a person with access to motorcycles raises serious questions about the responsibility of those who enabled that behaviour.
The incident also raises questions about whether existing laws and enforcement mechanisms are sufficiently effective at stopping repeat offenders.
The newly implemented Road Traffic Act provides fines for dangerous or negligent driving, with higher penalties where another person is injured. The law also provides for the revocation or suspension of driving-licence rights for periods of between five and 10 years in certain circumstances.
Yet four previous fines for driving without a licence did not prevent Maahu from returning to the road.
The purpose of enforcement should not simply be to punish an offence after it happens. It should also be to prevent repeated dangerous behaviour before another person is seriously injured or killed.
A young woman has now lost her life.
Her family is left with a loss that no fine, court order or public statement can undo.
The responsibility begins with the rider who chose to drive recklessly. It also raises questions about those who repeatedly enabled him to access motorcycles, and about whether the existing system did enough to keep a repeat offender without a licence from returning to the road.
This should not become another case that dominates public discussion for a few weeks before disappearing.
A life has been lost, and the questions raised by that loss deserve more than a temporary public outcry.
There must be accountability, not only for the actions that led to this crash, but also for the failures that may have allowed repeated dangerous behaviour to continue.
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