There is no panacea to make all roads accident free, but surely precautions like radium signals indicating curves or the beginnings of dividers will help.
That was missing at the spot on Jubilee Hills Checkpost-Peddamma temple stretch on road No. 36 which witnessed a gory accident in the early hours of Wednesday. While coming from the checkpost side, there are no glow signs on Metro Rail pillar No. 6 to 9. These signs are a must on these pillars because they are on the middle of the road. On top of it, the road slopes downwards and curves towards left. For any motorist heading towards Madhapur from checkpost side, the radium signs indicate the road has a curve.
The glow signs also indicate presence of the pillars. “Not every motorist drives at an ideal speed. It is not correct to drive rashly, but at the same time proper road signs are part of basic road safety,” a traffic police officer said.
The road is tilted upwards at the checkpost. After 100 yards, it is straight and slopes down while heading towards the pier pillar no. 8 and 9. Interestingly, a half arrow mark of radium sticker is seen on pier pillar no. 8 for motorists coming from Jubilee Hills police station side.
“There is no dispute that every Metro Rail pillar needs to have glow signs to indicate their location and curves if any,” Jubilee Hills Traffic Police Inspector Srinivas Reddy said. He, however, said that was the responsibility of the Metro Rail staff.
Though the accident resulting the death of AP Minister’s son Nishith and his friend Raja Ravichandra couldn’t be attributed to lack of indicators on the Metro Rail pillars, many said they would surely help vehicle drivers slow down. Motorists travelling on the stretch the first time —especially during the night —from the check-post to Peddamma temple would not be able to identify the curve ahead without any glow signs.
“It is high time we learn from such accidents and think of what best we can do,” said the traffic police.
