A 28-year-old software professional driving a motorcycle was killed and his doctor cousin seated on the pillion injured when the motorcycle they were riding hit the median of an arterial road near Tambaram in the early hours of Sunday.
Traffic police said A. Srinivas Reddy of Prakasam District, Andhra Pradesh, died, while his cousin Anil Reddy (34) has been hospitalised. Working with a software major in Perungudi, Srinivas was living with a few of his friends in a rented house in Thoraipakkam. Srinivas is married to Jothi, who lives in his hometown.
Anil Reddy, the victim's cousin, was selected for higher studies in medicine in London and was to board a flight at 4 a.m. at Chennai Airport. Srinivas decided to drop his cousin at the airport and see him off. They were on Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam Radial Road when Srinivas lost control of the bike and dashed against the median.
In the impact of the collision, the motorcycle was dragged for a few metres. Information reached policemen on a patrol vehicle who, in turn, alerted the ambulance service of a private hospital. They were rushed to a private hospital in Chromepet where Srinivas was pronounced dead on arrival. Anil continues to receive treatment at the hospital.
The victim's body was removed to Tambaram Taluk Government Hospital in Chromepet for post-mortem. Srinivas was wearing protective headgear but it was not a ‘full-face helmet.' The Radial Road has become among the most important arterial roads in the southern suburbs of Chennai because it links Grand Southern Trunk Road and Chennai Airport with the IT Corridor or Rajiv Gandhi Salai and subsequently East Coast Road. Illumination is nil and there are no safety measures in place such as warning signs or reflective stickers.
The story has been corrected for a factual error.
