Poor engineering renders Ring Road stretch accident-prone
Samarth Chugh, who killed one homeless man and injured three others in an accident on the wee hours of Thursday, must have been ineligible to drive a car, but there’s one more factor that led to the accident that mustn’t go unnoticed.
The stretch of Ring Road near the Kashmere Gate, where the accident happened, remains a constant danger zone to even legal drivers because of its poor engineering.
Thursday’s accident spot is in a small tunnel on that stretch of the Ring Road.
A blind curve leading to it means a few motorists know what lies ahead. Since the road leading to the blind curve is a slope, motorists are usually driving at great speeds on that stretch.
“A rumble strip or a speed cushion would ensure that motorists slow down before that blind curve,” a senior traffic police officer said.
As soon as the motorists negotiate the blind curve, they find a four-foot wide pavement appearing suddenly on the right side of the road. The homeless were sleeping on that pavement under the tunnel when the i20 car allegedly ran over them on Thursday. There is no logical explanation as to why the pavement starts/ ends abruptly inside the tunnel.
In the absence of any signboards or warnings about the blind curve or the sudden obstruction on the road ahead, motorists often drive very close to the pavement, leaving the pavement dwellers sleeping there under constant threat.