Traffic on Dhimbam ghat road was disrupted for more than six hours on Sunday morning after a truck overturned at the seventh hairpin bend of the road. No one sustained injuries in the accident.
Sources said the truck was carrying granite slabs from Chamraj Nagar to Namakkal when the accident took place. It was said the driver lost control of the vehicle while negotiating the hairpin bend around 7 a.m.
Vehicles started piling up on either side of the road following the accident.
The truck was overloaded, which led to the toppling of the vehicle, police sources said. State highways and traffic personnel rushed to the spot and removed the vehicles from the road after struggling for about six hours.
Overloaded trucks continued to be a perennial problem on the ghat section of the National Highway connecting Dindigul and Mysore.
Trucks carrying loads beyond permissible limits often break down on the ghat road that has 27 hairpin bends, disrupting traffic for hours together. These vehicles carry more than 35 tonnes when they are supposed to carry only 16 tonnes to 20 tonnes, police officials here pointed out.
Overloaded vehicles pose a hazard to approaching vehicles on blind corners and it is very difficult to control them, particularly while going downhill, officials said.
Officials said they were taking efforts to prevent the entry of overloaded vehicles on ghat road.