Motorists violating lane discipline, overspeeding, and tyre burst cases contributing Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway accidents

Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway series 1 Bengaluru: A pickup truck carrying electrical goods from Bengaluru to Mysuru turned turtle on the Expressway near Mandya on Friday morning. As The Hindu was conducting a reality check on the Expressway in light of the increasing number of accidents and ahead of the two-wheeler and three-wheeler ban from August 1, the truck driver Manjunath said he was just lucky to be safe and the stretch had become dangerous. One of the vehicle’s tyres burst causing the accident.

Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway series 1 Bengaluru: A pickup truck carrying electrical goods from Bengaluru to Mysuru turned turtle on the Expressway near Mandya on Friday morning. As The Hindu was conducting a reality check on the Expressway in light of the increasing number of accidents and ahead of the two-wheeler and three-wheeler ban from August 1, the truck driver Manjunath said he was just lucky to be safe and the stretch had become dangerous. One of the vehicle’s tyres burst causing the accident.

This is not an isolated case. Since its inception, over a 100 deaths have been reported and over 150 people severely injured out of the total number of 308 accidents reported since March 12 this year. Several dashcam videos of accidents and vehicles swerving abruptly on the Expressway have gone viral on social media.

Overspeeding and lack of lane discipline seem to be the main reasons for the increasing number of accidents on the Expressway. Police officials part of the highway patrol on the Expressway said they attended almost one accident a day on average and attributed most accidents to overspeeding, tyre bursts, and lack of lane discipline. 

A police official, part of the highway patrol team, who visited the accident site of the pickup truck turning turtle, brought a crane to move the truck and clear the Expressway. “Many trucks carry ply overload with low air pressure leading to tyre bursts and deadly accidents,” he said.

When The Hindu visited a police station in Ramanagara district, more than 50 mangled remains of cars and other larger vehicles crowded the premises. An official said all of them were vehicles that had met with accidents on the Expressway over the last few months. “These vehicles have piled up here in just three months since the Expressway opened. They are so damaged that they cannot be used even after extensive repairs,” the official said. 

Lack of lane discipline a major concern: 

Most vehicles do not follow lane discipline and overtaking from the wrong side has also been a major contributor to accidents on the expressway, highway patrol officials said. “Slow-moving vehicles drive on the right side lane which is dedicated to the fast-moving vehicles while fast-moving vehicles go on the left side. Many two-wheelers have been seen driving in the right lane which led to the accidents,” an official explained.