A few road traffic accidents reported in Coimbatore in the recent days reveal that traffic violations by motorists alone were not the cause of the accidents.
While a pothole clogged with rainwater became a reason for the death of two siblings on Thayir Itteri road at Rathinapuri on Saturday, a leaning AIADMK flagpole allegedly caused an accident on Avinashi Road on November 11, in which both legs of 31-year-old N. Rajeswari from Singanallur were crushed. Her left leg was amputated above the knee on Thursday. In both the cases, drivers of the trucks that ran over the victims were alone booked.
Hours after a nine year-old-girl and her seven-year-old sister were killed in an accident at Rathinapuri, the potholes that remained unattended for months were levelled.
“Though obstructions and defects on roads cause accidents on a daily basis, only serious ones come to light. Other than potholes on roads and design flaws during construction, obstructions in the form of garbage bins, advertisement boards, hoardings, cable TV wires and carelessly placed dividers also cause accidents. This was brought to the attention of authorities several times,” said K. Kathirmathiyon, member of District Road Safety Committee.
A shopkeeper on Thayir Itteri Road said that a garbage bin of Coimbatore Corporation remained on the road where the accident occurred on Saturday. It was removed on Friday following repeated demand from people, he said.
According to E.S. Uma, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic in-charge), Coimbatore City Police, instructions were given to officers in the four zones to identify obstructions of any form on roads that block vehicle movement. The officers were also asked to identify damaged roads in their limits, which will be brought to the attention of the civic body and the highways department.
“After identifying obstructions on roads, efforts will be taken to remove them with the help of authorities concerned. The police will also request the civic body to clear the mud accumulating in underpasses and low-lying roads as they too may cause accidents,” she said.
Coimbatore Corporation would soon remove all bins on city roads as it had adopted a bin-free city approach, Commissioner Sravan Kumar Jatavath said in response to a question on bins affecting vehicle movement and posing a threat to motorists’ safety. As the door-to-door collection of segregated waste was gathering pace, the city would have no need for bins on roads and therefore in the foreseeable future, there would be no bins, he said.
As for repairing damaged stretches, he said that the Corporation had engaged contractors zone-wise to complete the job at the earliest.
The contractors would first fill the potholes and even the stretches and then the Corporation would pay them.
Mr. Kathirmathiyon wanted the police to book those responsible for maintaining roads and causing obstructions on roads when such factors were the reasons for accidents.
“The police barely use Sections 336 (Act endangering life or personal safety of others), 337 (Causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), 338 (Causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code to hold officials of concerned departments accountable when accidents occur due obstructions and defects on roads,” he said.
(With inputs from
Karthik Madhavan)
