Six black spots on expressway on transport authority radar

The regional transport authority (RTA) of Gurugram on Tuesday held a meeting with stakeholders involved, including the district administration, on ways to reduce

The regional transport authority (RTA) of Gurugram on Tuesday held a meeting with stakeholders involved, including the district administration, on ways to reduce fatalities on National Highway-48. The officials identified six black spots — Rajiv Chowk, Hero Honda Chowk, Khandsa crossing, Shankar Chowk, Bilaspur Chowk and Sidhrawali crossing — and discussed ways to make commute safer at these spots.

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Dhaarna Yadav, secretary, RTA, said that the meeting focussed on discussing solutions to checking road violations and improving safety and security measures, such as road signage, to reduce confusion. “After two meetings, we have identified six black spots across the city, where the maximum number of accidents are reported. We have studied those areas and have recommended changes to departments concerned,” she said.

During a site visit, officials found various issues — the lack of pedestrian infrastructure, crossings, refuge island and speed calming measures — at the black spots. “We have written to NHAI to mark lanes on the service road. Also, we have asked them to display warning signs, including merging and diverging lanes, and mandatory signs of speed limits at all intersections,” she said.

In many areas, officials said motorists are not aware of pedestrian zones and when to slow down. Rajiv Chowk is very unsafe for both motorists and pedestrians, said officials.

An analysis of the year-long survey of accident-prone spots by the traffic police shows that most accidents in the city took place because of jaywalking, speeding, incorrect parking of vehicles, including trucks along the national highway at night, and non-functional traffic lights. Another important reason that led to accidents was faulty road engineering, the traffic police said.

The RTA has also started a drive against overloaded vehicles and unauthorised vehicles plying on roads. Since November, they have penalised 868 drivers and have collected penalties of Rs 3.5 crore. Yadav said they have penalised 269 drivers for overloading goods, which comprised of mined stones in most cases.

Officials of the GMDA had also stated that there are 568 CCTV cameras at 137 locations across the city, to monitor road safety.

Yadav said they have asked for information provided on accidents in each jurisdiction and intervention required from the district road safety committee. “We have written to the civil surgeon to provide us data on a total number of accidents calls received by them on 108 helpline and the time taken to provide first aid to the patient and total time taken to ferry the patient to the hospital,” said Yadav.

Officials said they have also sought for information on time lapse between road accidents and the death of victims, so as to improve response measures.