A prominent spine surgeon from Pune and his driver were killed after a private luxury bus rammed into their stationary car on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway on Sunday night.
According to the highway police, there have been 32 accidents involving stationary vehicles on the Pune-Mumbai expressway between January 1 and August 31 this year.
Milind Mohite, superintendent of police (highways), said, “Accidents, wherein commuters stopped on the expressway for repairing a flat tyre or carrying out vehicle inspection, are increasing.”
“Commuters must not stop on the expressway at any cost. During an emergency, they must only stop at the service road and station their vehicles in places where there is utmost safety, so that they are not run over by speeding vehicles,” he added.
According to statistics shared by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), between January and July in 2019, the total number of accidents reported are 221 as compared to 213 during same period last year. The number of fatal accidents in 2019 stand at 43 and the number of deaths were 16 while in 2018, the total number of deaths were 38. Mohite explained that the spine surgeon from Pune lost his life on Sunday night after his stationary car was hit by a speeding bus while they were changing a tyre on the expressway.
The expressway has seen deaths of important personalities in different accidents in the recent past. Well-known Marathi actors Anand Abhyankar and Akshay Pendse were among three people killed in an accident on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway on December 24, 2012. Also, TV actress Bhakti Barve Inamdar died in a road accident in 2001 on the expressway.
{{/usCountry}}The expressway has seen deaths of important personalities in different accidents in the recent past. Well-known Marathi actors Anand Abhyankar and Akshay Pendse were among three people killed in an accident on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway on December 24, 2012. Also, TV actress Bhakti Barve Inamdar died in a road accident in 2001 on the expressway.
{{/usCountry}}E-way accidents in numbers
From Jan to Aug 2019
Total number of accidents - 63
Deaths – 22
Accidents involving stationary vehicles- 32
From Jan to Aug 2018
Total number of accidents - 87
Deaths – 38
Other common reasons for accidents on e-way
Overtaking from the wrong side
Not maintaining the lane discipline
Speeding
During emergency:
Call 9822498224 for police help
Earlier cases of accidents involving stationary vehicles
Twenty-seven members of a wedding party were killed and 29 others were injured in road accident on the Pune-Mumbai expressway in 2012. The wedding guests were travelling from Ghatkopar to Yerawada when one of the minibuses in their motorcade developed a flat tyre and the other vehicle rammed into it, killing 27 people. The accident took place near Khalapur toll plaza.
A passenger bus rammed into a stationary Maruti Swift car in 2016 killing seventeen persons in the accident.