Now, videos of accident-prone spots in Gurugram for safety analysis a must: Cops

Top cops on Saturday directed all the 41 police stations to make videos of accident spots from Monday and submit reports detailing reasons that lead to mishaps

Top cops on Saturday directed all the 41 police stations to make videos of accident spots from Monday and submit reports detailing reasons that lead to mishaps.

Gurugram, India - Dec. 3, 2021: On lookers gather around the mangled remains of a car post an accident where five people were killed, at Gari Harsu village, in Gurugram, India, on Friday, December 3, 2021. (Photo by Vipin Kumar/ Hindustan Times) (Vipin Kumar/HT PHOTO)

Police said that PCR vans and patrolling bikes are the first to reach the spots after receiving information regarding an accident. They are being directed to prepare a detailed report and mention the area of the accident, cite reasons for the mishap, road condition, number of accidents, and nearest police deployment.

Earlier, police personnel reaching the accident spots used to record basic facts such as where did the accident take place, reason of accident, how many were killed or injured, but details such as condition of the roads, potholed roads, under-construction stretches and police deployment will have to be documented now.

KK Rao, commissioner of police, said that they are working on several methods to curb accidents across the city and majorly focusing on ‘black spots’ from where maximum accidents are reported.

“This exercise will give clarity on the cause of accidents and what measures can be taken to curb them. If an accident is taking place due to poor road condition, then we will write to the civic agency concerned and get it repaired at the earliest and if it is due to speeding, then barricades will be placed to control speed on the concerned stretch,” Rao said.

Rao said they have identified the accident-prone stretches over the last three years and analysed the reasons for accidents. In most of the cases, accidents took place due to speeding, stationary vehicles on roads, wrong-side driving and jaywalking.

Police said the maximum number of accidents were reported from Golf Course Extension Road, Southern Peripheral Road (SPR), Shankar Chowk, Ghata Crossing, Bilaspur Crossing and IMT, Manesar. Also, Hero Honda Chowk has emerged as a “dangerous spot” along with the crossing at Sidhrawali, where speeding caused most fatal accidents.

Traffic police in the city also roped in 200 homeguards and 50 personnel from the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) for traffic management.

Sanjeev Balhara, assistant commissioner of police (ACP) (traffic), said that teams visit the ‘black spots’ after an accident is reported and an evaluation report is prepared and submitted to the DCP (traffic), following which the next plan of action is prepared.

“If a team in its analysis finds that more measures are needed to curb accidents, action is taken then and there. After each evaluation, changes are made. We also inform the MCG officials if their help is required to fill potholes or any repair in the road structure”, Balhara said.

There were six accidents reported on the Golf Course Extension Road this week and as many as three of them were due to speeding, while the rest were due to potholes where drivers lost balance and toppled.

Cops have set up barricades at two spots and patrolling vehicles are taking rounds at night. Also, commuters are charged hefty fines if they are found speeding their vehicles, said police.

Police said they have also prepared a list of solutions required to reduce accidents. They have written to the civic body and urged it to install proper signage at various intersections, warning boards before merging traffic, speed-breakers and properly constructed central verges, officials said.

There are around 700 traffic personnel deployed across the city and to keep them safer during night duty, they are being provided with reflective lights, jackets and hand gloves.

In July last year, a six-member accident response team (ART) was formed to revisit ‘black spots’ in hit-and-run cases and to identify drivers who fled after hitting motorists and pedestrians. Cops said that the team solved more than 50 blind cases in four months in 2021.