Southern States - Tamil Nadu-Chennai   

Rider negligence caused accident: Vijay Kumar

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI FEB. 13 . The fatal accident involving the death of an Income Tax department employee after he dashed his two-wheeler into a steel barricade on January 26 was "only due to the negligence on the part of the rider," and it occurred despite police measures to make this particular stretch on EVR Salai safer for motorists, the Police Commissioner, K. Vijay Kumar, has said.

Responding to the report, `Traffic barricades or death traps?" published in these columns, Mr. Vijay Kumar states: "I would like to deny as totally incorrect" any suggestion that it was due to failure on the part of the police to implement safety measures.

Giving details of the efforts taken by the police to prevent accidents especially on this particular stretch of EVR Salai near Arumbakkam, the Commissioner said: "Since 28 accidents including eight fatal ones in 2002 and two, one of them fatal in the beginning of this year till January 5 had been reported at this particular spot, this stretch was declared `accident prone' and several preventive measures viz. putting steel barricades with reflective tapes and stickers, adequate illumination with sodium vapour lamp and signboards were installed.

As a result, not a single accident took place at this particular point from January 6 to 23. The accident that took place on January 24 at 9.30 p.m. was only due to the negligence on the part of the rider". Mr. Vijay Kumar said the police also obtained a statement from an eyewitness, K. Syed.

As per statistics about 3,000 vehicles of various types were passing through that particular stretch daily between 9 and 10 p.m. "The stray incident which happened due to the negligence on the part of the rider was exaggerated and a completely untrue version tarnishing the image of the police was published," he said.

Stating that the traffic wing was always receptive and sensitive to the urgent needs of the public, he said that while 708 lives were lost in Chennai due to road accidents in 2001, the number was reduced to 500 in 2002. "Statistics may seem moribund but are a vital index especially if (one) remembers the fact that never in the last decade has fatality been reduced by almost a third," he said.

The IT department employee, K. Parthasarathy, died while returning to his quarters at Kellys.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Tambaram-Beach BG trains not up to the mark
• Suspect caught on ATM centre camera
• Rider negligence caused accident: Vijay Kumar
• Spurt in chicken pox incidence
• Inebriated man `jumps' into Cooum, rescued
• Constable killed as lorry dashes against pillar

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu