JOIN USFatal crashes on flyover prompt police crackdown on parking
On December 29, 2017, a biker crashed into a parked car before being run over by an approaching vehicle. On January 3, a 32-year-old software engineer lost control of his scooter and crashed it into a parked car. A speeding Tempo Traveller coming from behind mowed him down.
Police have adopted a multi-pronged strategy to check accidents on the nine-kilometre-long expressway: To begin with, they want the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to install CCTV cameras on the entire road. In the long run, they want a complete ban on all two-wheelers. They would also prosecute the owners of parked vehicles involved in accidents.
"How can someone be so careless that his car (Maruti WagonR) runs out of fuel in the middle of the expressway," a senior police officer asked, referring to Wednesday's accident.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic-East) Abhishek Goyal has directed the Madiwala and Electronics City police - who have joint jurisdiction over the expressway - to strictly enforce discipline among motorists and ensure no vehicle stops on the stretch.
Ban on two-wheelers
The traffic police had proposed to ban all two-wheelers on the expressway after two riders fell 45 feet down on the road below after their bike was hit by a car on October 14, 2017. But the proposal took a back seat as the NHAI had entered into an agreement with the concessionaire, allowing the latter to collect toll from motorcyclists, too. "Human lives matter more than toll collection," a senior police officer said.
Police are likely to write to the NHAI to consider the safety of motorcyclists on the expressway. Goyal said they would first write to the police commissioner, T Suneel Kumar, listing the pros and cons of the ban on two-wheelers. The commissioner will then take the matter up with the NHAI, he added.
The traffic police will recommend to the NHAI to instal CCTV cameras every kilometre of the expressway, besides putting up screens to show the details of parked vehicles in real time. The CCTV footage will help the police investigate accidents. At present, police find it difficult to investigate accidents given the few CCTV cameras on the expressway.
This apart, police will ask the NHAI to instal cameras that can detect the speed of every vehicle and penalise the speeding ones at the toll booth. "The expressway has two lanes on each side. We cannot block a lane with our interceptor to check vehicles' speed," Goyal said. The NHAI will have to set up speed rumblers at designated points, he added.