With heavy goods vehicles being involved in 15 fatal accidents in the past one-and-a-half months, the Delhi Traffic Police has made it mandatory for such vehicles to observe crash protection measures.
The safety measures include installation of devices such as rear under-run protection device (RUPD) and lateral under-run protection device (lUPD). Police have also advised the agencies supervising construction works in the city — the Delhi Metro, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and NDMC — to get these safety devices fitted on the goods vehicles employed for them.
The measure will prove effective in the winter when drivers are extremely vulnerable to accidents due to poor visibility levels. "According to the Motor Vehicle (MV) Act, big carriage vehicles such as containers, dumpers, trolley, trucks have a lot of ground clearance and thus should be fitted with protection devices to prevent entry of vehicles from the rear as well as laterally. Some large goods vehicles have ground space to a height of as much as four feet, which is enough for a car to fall under the wheels of such vehicles when they turn, resulting in fatal accidents," said Anil Shukla, Additional Commissioner of Police (traffic).
To avoid such severe road crashes, traffic police has initiated a drive to prosecute heavy goods vehicles found plying without the safety devices fitted on them. "The stringent drive is being carried out at seven corridors, including NH-8 near Gurgaon and Dhaula Kuan, NH-1 near Burari and Narela, NH-24 near Mathura Road, near Sarita Vihar, NH-1, NH-10 and sometimes on the outer Ring Road. As part of the drive, 50 goods vehicles are being impounded on an average daily. The offending drivers are booked under the violation of dangerous driving, which amounts to a penalty of as much as Rs 2,000," added Shukla.
To tackle the issue of such vehicles registered outside Delhi, the traffic police have held meetings with Haryana transporters' association and Haryana builders and truckers' associations. The meetings aim at making them aware of the grave risks posed by the heavy goods vehicles to the other road users and the importance of the safety devices. "It is observed that due to poor visibility at night, especially in winters when the visibility levels drop due to moisture and fog, severe truck accidents occur, when the drivers fail to see other vehicles driving ahead of them. To avoid such extreme situations, reflective tapes prove to be of utmost necessity," noted Shukla.
