Accidents on Expressway: Safety measures need of the hour

Sir,

I travelled via the Expressway to Bengaluru on Apr. 22 and passed by an accident site. I saw the mangled vehicles and felt deep sorrow learning about the loss of five precious young lives. Although we have a 6-lane Expressway between Mysuru and Bengaluru to boast about, the frequency of accidents leading to the loss of life makes me question whether we really deserve it. The reasons for the accidents are plain enough:

1. The Expressway should never have been opened for public use before completing the service roads and educating the public on usage of a 6-lane road.

2. The public and public transport drivers who use the Expressway consider it a mere high-speed road without caring for the rules that are prescribed for its usage. This apathy of the authorities concerned is to blame. The rules should have been displayed and the users should have been educated, and strict enforcement should have been carried out. The rules for using 6-lane roads can be downloaded from Google search.

3. Slow-moving scooters carrying helmetless riders/pillion passengers, more than allowable capacity and children, is a common sight on the Expressway and is a potential accident cause.

4. Heavy-duty slow-moving vehicles occupying two lanes and/or parking them close to the kerb hampers the movement of vehicles coming from the rear, making them brake hard and causing accidents.

5. Pedestrians and cattle crossing the Expressway near villages create confusion in the minds of motorists.

6. Some 2-wheelers use one of the 3 lanes of the Expressway by approaching from the opposite direction to reach the exits, which is highly dangerous.

7. Overtaking between lanes without proper signalling and/or at very close distances is very common.

8. There are no proper Highway patrolling or CCTV cameras installed to control lane movement and apprehend the transgressors and penalise them with deterrent penalties. The best control points are the toll plazas/exits where the transgressors can be nabbed and penalised if proper CCTV cameras are installed en route. Through your media, I implore the authorities concerned to take precautions and avoid any further unnecessary loss or impairment of precious human lives.

– K. Narasimha Murthy,  Lakshmipuram, 23.4.2023

You can also mail us your views, opinions, and stories to voice@starofmysore.com