"We lost a son, now my aim is to save others,” says Freddy Sanjana of Madras whose 21-year-old son Mehernosh passed away in a road accident after his bike collided with a pedestrian. He was talking to Parsiana on January 18, 2018 about his new-found mission to spread awareness about road safety on the 45-kilometer long Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) where the accident had taken place.
Freddy Sanjana, above and top right, grieving his son Mehernosh, above
Resident of Madras since 2012, Freddy "and his friends stand at major traffic signals holding placards that call attention to the dangers of not wearing helmets and seatbelts, triple-riding on motorcycles and the use of mobile phones while driving,” notes a report published in The Hindu (TH) of January 6, 2018. He "does not hesitate to roll down the windows of his car and request motorists to wear their seatbelts.” Freddy tells us that he is now also campaigning via his Facebook page "OMR Roads: Chennai — A life hazard to two wheelers” for more zebra crossings and traffic signals on OMR. Also on the cards are awareness meetings at nearby residential complexes. "Foot over bridges on OMR are spaced one kilometer apart,” narrated Freddy. TH had reported that on the highway, "road dividers are low and people run to cross it.”
Mehernosh, a student of chartered accountancy, "was a careful rider... always rode with his riding gear on... got his bike serviced each month. That morning, (June 1, 2017) at 6 a.m., a freak accident took place,” narrated Freddy to Parsiana. A guard from a nearby building had reportedly darted across the road, and his lungi, which got caught in the wheel of Mehernosh’s vehicle, caused the bike to skid. The lad, whose helmet was dislodged, hit the road and was dragged for quite some distance, the father said. Mehernosh was "taken (by a public ambulance service) to Royapettah General Hospital where there was no neurosurgeon... I was informed at 7.15 a.m. by the ambulance driver... we took him to another hospital near Madras Central Station, but his pulse was low when we reached.” Freddy and his wife Deepika were told at 10.10 a.m. that the boy was no more. "We donated his eyes... we don’t know who got them, but are happy it was for a noble cause.” The Sanjanas have another college going son, Danesh.