Traffic movement was affected between Neelangarai and Palavakkam for over an hour, after an unidentified car hit a 60-year old man in Pallavakkam on Tuesday evening. Police say the chances of accidents are high on this stretch due to poor lighting.
According to police, at around 6.30 p.m, Siva Sankaran, 60, was crossing East Coast Road in Palavakkam to go to a tea shop. He walked through a small gap between traffic when a car hit him. He was thrown to the side of the road that he had come from.
Passers-by rushed to save him, but he had already died. They then alerted police. “He used to work in a cinema theatre and has two daughters who are now married,” said a police officer of the Neelangarai traffic investigation wing. Residents and police claim the road is a death trap due to inadequate lighting.
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S. Paramesh, a resident of Injambakkam said that every time he used the stretch at night he felt frightened. “Last month, the headlight on my bike was not working and I could not see anything in front of me as there was no lighting. I had to ride the vehicle very slowly,” he said.
T. Viswanathan, Pallavakkam councillor said that he had requested Chennai Corporation for four high-mast lights but there has been no action to date. “There are four important junctions in Pallavakkam on ECR. The existing lights are not powerful,” said Viswanathan.
He said that most accidents happened at the MGR Salai Junction in Palavakkam on ECR. “After this stretch, most accidents happen after Injambakkam as the road is free of traffic,” he said.
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