Reckless driving on Yamuna Expressway continues unabated and it has snuffed out over three dozen lives in 14 accidents since July this year. The rate of accident has gone up alarmingly despite precautionary measures and signage put in place by the authorities.
In the first 11 months of its opening to the public, 40 travelers lost their lives and more than 100 had sustained critical injuries. But after July the e-way has proved deadlier mainly due to road hogs like trucks whose tyres burst due to overheating. As per an study, tyres fitted in tractors and trucks are not fit for Yamuna e-way, thus ending in accidents frequently.
Yamuna e-way, which was inaugurated on August 9 last year, has witnessed over 50 accidents till July 9 in the Greater Noida region. The first accident took place three days after its inauguration. Five BTech students were injured when their car collided with the divider while they were trying to save an animal on the road. On August 25 last year, a Delhi-based businessman, Rahul Singhal (35), was killed and four of his family members injured when his car collided with a stationary truck near Jewar area.
Three days later, a truck turned turtle causing death to five people. On January 31, a youth lost his life while 20 other were injured in a pile-up of over one dozen vehicles. Six days ago, a 30-year-old man was killed while a woman lost her arm after a Scoprio car in which they were traveling overturned and hit the divider before precariously hanging from the flyover fence.
Most of the accidents were caused by the bursting of tyres due to overspeeding. Data reveals that nearly 80 per cent of total accidents, which left around 76 people dead and over 190 injured, have been due to overspeeding and tyre bursts. Expressway officials, however, claim that there is no specific pattern of accidents other than due to overspeeding.
“People need to drive cautiously and within the speed limit. Also, for driving a long distance, the condition of tyres needs to be minutely checked to reduce the risk of overheating and bursting of tyres,” said the official adding that they are concerned with the problem of overspeeding of vehicles and have also taken safety measures in this regard.
“We have installed speed guns at all toll plazas and provide information to police about those vehicles which cross the speed limit of 110-kilometre per hour. We have also put signage at various places which warn the occupants not to drive above the limit,” he said.
Apart from this we had held a three-day session in association with Automotive Tyre manufacturers’ Association (ATMA) in March so we could spread awareness about the road safety. We also conducted survey of vehicles on expressway to know the cause of the accidents and found that tyres fitted in tractors and trucks are not fit for plying and create wheel imbalances. During the survey, it was also revealed that majority of tyres were running without correct air pressure that also causes major accidents sometimes.
Brajesh Kumar Singh, Superintendent of Police (Rural) of Greater Noida, said that though we come down heavily against the errant drivers but we have not been able to stop them all. “We are planning to reserve separate police force for patrolling on Yamuna Expressway. We have also been planning to introduce a traffic management system for the entire carriageway so that we can stop such incidents and save the lives of people,” said the SP.