Poor lighting main cause of accidents: Police

Following a spate of accidents on Friday and Saturday — in which four persons died on roads connecting to the Delhi-Jaipur highway within 24 hours — the police found that the lack of streetlights was leading to accidents

Following a spate of accidents on Friday and Saturday — in which four persons died on roads connecting to the Delhi-Jaipur highway within 24 hours — the police found that the lack of streetlights was leading to accidents.

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Two police teams visited 12 black spots and found that six did not have functional streetlights. Lack of proper lighting is a major problem on Dwarka Expressway, Farrukhnagar crossing, Pataudi crossing, Hero Honda Chowk, Sidhrawali crossing and Manesar.

Motorcyclists and pedestrians are the worst affected, as most on these stretches and the lanes don’t have a footpath. Last week, over 25 accidents were reported from the six spots, which have already been identified as black spots by the district administration.

The police said that deploying personnel and PCR vans at accident-prone spots have failed to help, as drivers fail to notice the vehicles, steep turns and potholes due to poor visibility during the early hours.

KK Rao, the commissioner of police, said that they have formed two teams to check the spot and submit the report, following which the stakeholders will be informed to take prompt action. “We have been analysing accident spots and Bilaspur and Manesar are two of the most dangerous spots, where (a lack of) streetlights is a major concern,” he said.

On Friday and Saturday, four people were killed due to speeding, lack of streetlights and poor condition of the roads.

In one of the incidents on Friday night, a mother-son duo had hitched a ride on a tractor and was on the way, when the tractor sped over a speed breaker, allegedly due to poor visibility, and the woman was thrown off the vehicle and died of severe injuries. “The Farrukhnagar crossing is dangerous and more than 10 accidents have been reported in the last four days. The authorities should at least install a few streetlights for the safety of commuters,” said Harsh Kumar, a resident of Farrukhnagar, whose mother died in the incident.

Lalit Yadav a resident of Panchgaon in Manesar, said that the crossing was unsafe after dark. He said that trucks speed on this stretch and due to non-operational streetlights, the motorists and pedestrians suffer the most. “My sister-in-law and I were returning home on Friday night from the market when a speeding tractor rammed us from behind. We fell and she was run over by the tractor and died on the spot. The driver took advantage of the dark and fled the spot,” he said.

The police said that service roads on both sides have poor lighting during the night and the narrow potholed road compounds the issue.

Rao said they would write to the highways authority, public works and other agencies, and hold a meeting this week for prompt solutions. “We have identified the spots where streetlights are required and can save lives,” he said.

Sarika Panda Bhatt, a road safety expert, said that besides lack of infrastructure, including streetlights, road safety audits of accident-prone sites also revealed that the timings of streetlights are erratic. “Often, in several areas of the city, including a major road network, streetlights aren’t turned on until 8-9pm and in many areas, they are not functional. Similarly, they are turned off around 5am, even though it’s dark. A lot of accidents have taken place due to lack of streetlights in areas like Bilaspur and Manesar,” she said.

The district administration and the Road Safety Authority (RTA) is also analysing the data to pinpoint reasons for the accidents and suggest solutions.