Tragic road crash deaths in community: wake-up call for driving sensibly

The Kiwi-Indian community in Christchurch and all over New Zealand is currently reeling under grief from the news of tragic road crash deaths of two young drivers on our road.

The news of the death of two young Indian drivers, Kamal Preet Singh and Lovepreet Singh Waraich, one on the student visa and the other on an open work visa, in North Canterbury on Tuesday, March 28, have left the community in shock and grief.

Any news of death is always received in shock, disbelief and pain, but when the news is about road crash deaths of young adults in the community, who are temporary visitors here in New Zealand, then the sense of connect and responsibility to share the grief automatically increases manifold.

Probably, this is what is happening in our wider community at the moment, and everyone is gathering together to deal with this news and extending support wherever possible, emotional or financial, to the near and dear ones of the deceased boys.

This is an opportune time to remind everyone about two important things – responsibility to drive sensibly and victim support mechanism in New Zealand.

It will not be an exaggeration to say that we all, including this writer, are often guilty of living in a fool’s paradise where we conveniently ignore or pay less attention to repetitive calls from authorities for sensible driving on our roads.

Such calls are meant for a reason, and some time could be the difference between life and death.

Furthermore, with the news emerging that the ill-fated boys were overtaking a fast moving truck on a foggy morning with poor visibility when the collision happened, will act as a chilly reminder towards the need for responsible driving.

It is too much for a cost of life, especially for the poor parents of those young boys who are left behind to bear the emotional burden of ‘poor judgement’ of their kids.

Every time we hit the road and choose to take adrenalin-filled decisions, which could lead to ‘momentary lapses’ on the road, we not only risk our own lives but also other members of general public who have no say in your decision making.

So please be mindful when you hit the road next time in your cars.

Young adults need to grow up fast and take responsibility, more so when travelling overseas, away from their families and parents, because in most cases their families have taken huge financial debt to fulfil their dreams. It becomes a double whammy for their poor parents of grieving with their loss and dealing with the financial burden.

Similarly, this is an opportune time to educate everyone in the community about the victim support mechanism in New Zealand.

Although, a large number of people in our community prefers to look towards their families, friends and the wider community most of the time when they are in stressful situations in life and need some support, yet it is important to understand the importance of professional victim support mechanism.

In New Zealand, there are many types of professional organisations which provide emotional, financial and practical support depending upon the kind of situation one is in and the kind of support that is required for immediate well being and long term healing.

In this regard, one immediate port of call could be Victim Support organisation – an organisation dedicated to providing frontline support to the people in distress. Their goal is to helps victims find strength, hope and safety in the face of grief and trauma.

Contrary to popular belief, it is not a crown agency and is an independent charity organisation committed to providing support to those in distress.

In most cases, those at the frontline of providing support are volunteers who share the passion of assisting our others in their hour of need.

Sometimes, seeking professional support along with existing friends and family support could act as an extra resource to deal with the crisis in life.