It is a death trap for road-users

It is a death trap for road-users

The Hindu

In 2006, there were eighty-one deaths due to accidents on Hosur Road



TOUGH TIME: Pedestrians find it difficult to cross the road because of heavy traffic. — Photo: Sampath Kumar G.P.

BANGALORE: Hosur Road, the city's IT artery, continues be a death trap for road-users. Of the 915 road accident deaths in 2006, 81 were reported from Hosur Road, which comes under the Madiwala Traffic Police Station limits.

The reasons for this are shocking, considering that the area has some of Bangalore's biggest corporate names.

According to the Madiwala Traffic Inspector H.T. Ramesh, the lack of streetlights on the stretch between Central Silk Board junction and Electronic City is the main cause for accidents, especially those involving pedestrians. Of the 81 dead, 46 were pedestrians.

The absence of protected pedestrian crossings on the busy six-lane road is another reason for this alarming fatality figure.

Pedestrians have removed the median on the road at many places.

Further, many liquor shops have come up on either side of the road and customers walk straight out of these watering holes onto the road.

Though movement of people is less during the night, 15 people were killed between 9 p.m. and midnight and nine between midnight and 6 a.m.

With no streetlights in place, the vision of vehicle drivers is blocked due to the headlights of vehicles coming from the opposite direction, he noted.

Over 600 of the total 915 road accident deaths occurred on national highways and Outer Ring Roads (ORRs) during 2006. Despite a decline in the total number of accidents between 2003 and 2006 (from 10,505 to 7,561), the number of fatal accidents has gone up from 843 to 880 in the same period.

Hosur Road is followed by the busy Tumkur Road (NH4). Peenya and Yeshwanthpura Traffic Police Stations under which Tumkur Road falls, recorded 72 and 39 deaths respectively. Krishnarajapura

Traffic Police Station under which the Old Madras Road falls recorded the next highest fatality figure with 67 deaths, followed by Byatarayanapura (65) on Mysore Road, Hebbal (34) and Yelahanka (42) on NH 7.

While Madiwala Traffic Police Station accounted for the highest number of accident deaths, Cubbon Park Traffic Police Station reported just one death during 2006.

Though it could be said that accidents seldom occur on Raj Bhavan Road, Queen's Road, Dr. Ambedkar Veedhi, Cubbon Road and Cunningham Road coming under Cubbon Park because of bumper-to-bumper traffic, these roads are relatively traffic-free during nights. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic-East) M.A. Saleem attributed the near accident-free record to introduction of one-ways and keeping traffic signal lights on even during nights.

"Because we have kept signal lights on during nights, the drivers were at least alert, if not followed the rules," he said.