Speeding claims yet another life in Rajiv Chowk underpass, 1 hurt
FATAL Ninth death caused by speeding and wrong-side driving in underpasses; NHAI to ask police to set speed limit in underpasses, rejects rumble strips
A 28-year-old man was killed in an accident in Rajiv Chowk underpass after the car he was driving was rammed from behind by a speeding car, police said Friday.
“Inside the underpass, the driver of the other car was speeding and lost control and rammed into the deceased, Rohit’s car. Rohit lost control of the vehicle and crashed into the divider leading to his death while co-passenger, 23-year-old Manish Sura, was injured,” assistant sub-inspector Sribhagwan, who is the investigation officer, said, adding said the driver of the other car fled.
Around 9.30pm Wednesday, Rohit, who was identified only by his first name, and Sura were travelling in an Alto towards Rajiv Chowk from Sohna when the accident took place.
Sura sustained injuries on his abdomen and head, but he is reportedly out of danger. “We did not find any CCTV footage from inside the underpass or near it. We are yet to identify the accused,” police officers said.
An FIR was registered against unidentified people under sections 304A (death by negligence), 279 (rash driving), 337 (causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code, based on a complaint by Sura.
The deceased was an outsourced security staff member at the Delhi airport and is survived by his wife and two children, police said. Rohit’s body was handed over to his family after post-mortem examination on Thursday.
Wednesday’s accident was the second in as many months of the year. In January, a man died in a similar accident in the Golf Course Road underpass. In the
past year, four at of least them eight fatal, have accidents, taken place inside underpasses across the city (see box).
Eleven underpasses were opened to the public in the city, the last being the Hero Honda Chowk underpass, between March 2017 and April 218. The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) is responsible for all underpasses on the Golf Course Road-Cyber City stretch, while the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is responsible for those on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway.
With this the authorities may have managed to reduce vehicular congestion and ensure smoother, faster travel, but the structures, which facilitate high speed commute, have been riddled with problems, such as improper signage, irregular power supply and poor drainage, making them dangerous for motorists.
Road safety experts have repeatedly suggested implementing speed-calming measures and segregating lanes as solutions to the growing number of accidents in city’s underpasses, most of which, they say, take place due to speeding and wrong-side driving.
Commenting on Wednesday’s accident, NHAI consultant Saurabh Singhal said they will request the city police to implement a speed limits in underpasses on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway. “We are not keen on rumble strips as it will slow down traffic and jams,” he said, adding that if tyre killers are implemented successfully on the Golf Course Road, then they will also adopt them on all roads under their jurisdiction.
It must be noted that the Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran is studying a proposal to
install tyre killers— a metal strip that acts as a speed breaker for people driving on the right side and its spikes puncture tyres of vehicles travelling from the wrong side—at certain spots identified as dangerous on Golf Course Road, which is a highspeed corridor.
The Golf Course Road has witnessed a number of accidents in the past few months due to speeding and wrong-side driving.
Programme coordinator for Haryana Vision Zero Sarika Panda Bhatt, and other road safety experts, have repeatedly suggested introduction of rumble strips as speed-calming measures in several road safety meetings, where the issue of speeding in underpasses was discussed.
On Friday, Bhatt said these suggestions were yet to be
implemented and added that there should be strict enforcement of traffic rules. “Police should check speeding, which is a main cause of accidents in underpasses,” she said.
After three fatal accidents in underpasses between March and July 2018, deputy commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh had, in September, cautioned the NHAI officials at a road safety meeting that they would be booked in case another accident was caused due to lack of illumination.
Later, the GMDA had told the NHAI that it will take over the underpasses from the latter, but it would happen only after the 12th underpass, being built at Iffco Chowk, is completed.
According to NHAI officials, the Iffco Chowk underpass is likely to be completed in a month’s time.
› The driver of the other car was speeding and lost control and rammed the deceased, Rohit’s car. Rohit lost control of the vehicle and crashed into the divider leading to his death. SRIBHAGWAN, investigating officer