Poor street lighting cost three people their lives on Wednesday night, when a speeding tipper lorry collided with a parked lorry on Tambaram–Puzhal Bypass Road.
According to the police, Chakrapani, a resident of Maduravoyal owns a tipper lorry. On Wednesday night, his son Ashok Kumar took the lorry, laden with sand, and was headed towards Puzhal on the Tambaram–Puzhal Bypass Road. Around 11 p.m., when the vehicle was on Paraniputhur Bridge, Ashok realised there was something wrong with it. The vehicle came to a halt and wouldn’t move.
Ashok then went back to Maduravoyal and took a mechanic, Karthik, to where the lorry was parked. The two were behind the lorry, examining it, when a speeding tipper lorry, headed towards Puzhal, rammed the stationary lorry.
Karthik and Ashok Kumar died on the spot. Local residents called for an ambulance and the police. “Ranjan, the driver of the speeding lorry died on the way to hospital and the cleaner Jagan sustained minor injuries,” said a traffic police officer.
He added, “The driver was speeding. As there are no lights on that stretch, he probably did not see the parked lorry.”
The officer said this was a problem on all bypass roads.