Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

To be on the safe side while driving at night

Thiruvananthapuram: With the Sabarimala pilgrimage season starting, road safety, particularly during night time, has become a matter of public concern.

The police say there had been a slight increase in number of night-time accidents with the start of the pilgrimage, but no loss of life was reported in the district in November.

City residents’ association officer-bearers say most vehicles carrying pilgrims from other States are equipped with yellow-tinted headlights and fog lamps meant to be used only in misty and low-visibility conditions. However, most drivers of such vehicles use these “blinding beams” in well-lit urban areas and on busy national and State highways.

Most of the vans carrying pilgrims from neighbouring States are overloaded, sport flags on long masts and carry heavy luggage in an ill-secured manner on the top of their vehicles. Very often, the drivers of such vehicles are fatigued from driving long distances almost non-stop. Some vans are fitted with accessories such as tinted headlights and illuminated registration plates, which are in violation of the provisions of the Motor Vehicle Rules.

Another ‘illegal’ trend noticed is the equipping of vehicles with an array of small but powerful lights above the fender.

A study by the National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (NATPAC) has pointed out that 25 per cent of the accidents are reported at night when the traffic flow is less than that in daytime.

It has identified temporary blindness in motorists due to the powerful headlight beam of oncoming vehicles as one of the main accident-causing reason. A NATPAC official says there should be a law restricting the brilliance of headlight lamps.

Ill-lit junctions, medians and traffic islands without reflectors and speed-breakers (which are not highlighted by reflective white paint) often cause accidents involving vehicles from other States carrying pilgrims.

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