no doubt

MP3 players

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The sad demise of 17-year-old Nidhi Pandey, whom the police say was listening to music on her phone when a speeding bus hit her at Dadar, highlights the dangers of the rampant practice.They may be the newest avatars of a gadget called the Walkman, but doctors warn that listening to music on your MP3 player or cell phone while walking down the street can be lethal - especially with headphones on.The death of 17-year-old Nidhi Pandey from Wadala yesterday - and the ubiquity of portable music players nowadays - illustrates the importance of heeding this most 21st-century of health warnings.Nidhi, a resident of Dosti Acres and student at Podar Junior College, had scored 90% in her recent HSC exams, and would have turned 18 in less than a month. Her brother Aman (16) told Mumbai Mirror, “Didi would have turned 18 on June 28 and we had planned a huge surprise for her. I never thought my sister would die in such way.”Nidhi died around 10 am yesterday after she was hit by a private bus while crossing a road at Dadar TT. While her family denies she was wearing earphones at the time, the police believe it is highly likely that she was.Manisha Murumkar, sub-inspector, Matunga police station, said, “We strongly suspect that Nidhi was listening to music while crossing the road as she was found with her earphones plugged into her phone and both ear pieces near her ears.”“We reached the spot in 10 minutes and took her to Sion hospital in our police van. However, it was too late - Nidhi died before she could be admitted,” she added.Bus driver Harishchandra Argade (50) has been arrested. After his bus hit Nidhi, eyewitnesses said, she was run over by a second vehicle.“There isthat the bus driver was also at fault. He was speeding and didn’t see Nidhi crossing the road. We have arrested him under Section 304-A (death through rash or negligent behaviour, not amounting to culpable homicide) and Section 338 (grevious hurt through rash or negligent behaviour) of the Indian Penal Code,” said sub-inspector Murumkar.Dr Rajesh Valand, ENT specialist at BSES Hospital, Andheri, said, “Listening to loud music while crossing a road can be extremely dangerous. I have been in many situations in which I have had to stop my car for a pedestrian wearing earphones who could not hear me honking.“Advertisements like the one telling people to ‘walk and talk’ should be banned. Such ads encourage people to talk on their mobile phones while walking. You can burn calories without listening to music or talking on the phone.”Dr Valand added that there should be signboards at traffic signals, warning pedestrians to remove their earphones and cross safely.Nidhi, who had joined Mickey Mehta’s gym at Dadar TT two months ago, was on her way home from there when she was killed.Mehta told Mumbai Mirror, “It’s a tragedy. We deeply regret what happened, but I can only say that parents should be aware of this problem and tell their children not to use their cell phones andon the road, especially while crossing or driving.”Dr Rajesh Dere, head of the postmortem department at Sion hospital, said, “Nidhi died of multiple injuries. She suffered severe injuries to her head and limbs. Her internal organs were also ruptured, which suggests that a vehicle ran over her abdomen.”The eldest of four siblings, her father had died offive years ago, since when her mother had been managing the family’s iron rod business. According to Dharmesh Pandey, Nidhi’s cousin, “Nidhi was supposed to call the driver and tell him to pick her up. We were wondering why she hadn’t called. Her mother was supposed to leave for Nashik the same day, in the same car, so she may have thought of taking a cab home.”