Bangalore: Road hump snuffs out boy's life

An unscientific road hump coupled with reckless driving of an autorickshaw driver resulted in the death of his six-year-old son at Kaverinagar at K R Puram here on Wednesday.

Shiva, a labourer who also drives an autorickshaw, lost his only son Nanda when the vehicle overturned after hitting the road hump. His mother-in-law Gauramma, 48, and his sister-in-law Revathi, 28, who were also in the vehicle, sustained injuries.

Shiva told police that he was driving at “a great speed” on Kaverinagar main road, which he uses regularly. When a dog strayed into the road, he tried to avoid hitting the animal and lost control over his autorickshaw. “The front wheel ra­mmed into the road hump as I applied brakes and the auto­rickshaw overturned,” he said.

It is said that local residents have laid a small road hump in an unscientific manner on the congested road. Nanda, who was sitting on the edge of the seat, could not balance himself when the vehicle overturned. He fell down, sustained severe injuries on his abdomen and was rushed to Vaidehi Hospital. He died at 11 pm, police said.

The traffic police said the number of non-fatal accidents is on the rise due to unscientific road humps. “There have been a few deaths too. The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has taken up a drive against unscientific humps,” said Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic & Security) B Dayananda. The BBMP has taken up road asphalting and the engineering section staff are converting such humps as per the Indian Road Congress specifications.

The traffic police are also helping them out. Around 20 per cent of the humps in the City are unscientific and will be cleared in another four months, he said.