LONG ROAD TO SAFETY

Yamuna Expressway was inaugurated in August 2012 and 531 persons have died in 4,918 accidents since it was opened, said engineering consultancy company RITES. Over 2.4 crore vehicles have violated the speed limit on the expressway in less than six years but only 31,000 drivers were fined, and not a single challan has been issued for drunken driving.

The 165-km-long six-lane expressway passes through four districts — Gautam Budh Nagar, Aligarh, Mathura and Agra — but traffic police of each district blames the other for not taking necessary action against violators.

Speeding vehicles

“We have a system to identify speeding vehicles and fine them with the help of traffic police at toll gates but we can’t monitor other activities such as lane jumping or rash driving,” said Rakesh Kumar, a patrol officer with JP Infratech Limited. Mr. Kumar and three other staff members patrol a 20-km-stretch of the expressway, and assist drivers in case of vehicular break down. He is also responsible for any accidents or emergency situations on the stretch.

“Drivers do not follow traffic rules. They often jump lanes or halt their vehicle in the middle of the road, which leads to accidents. Our patrol van was hit by a driver a few days ago. The patrol van was parked on the side of the road but the car driver was driving in an inebriated state,” he added.

Recently, three AIIMS doctors were killed on the expressway while on the way to Agra. “I was not on duty the day the three doctors died but I was told that the car rammed a truck that was driving on a lane meant for overtaking,” he said.

Officials of JP Infratech Limited, which operates the expressway, said they keep safety features on the expressway updated as per recommendations of the authorities and the traffic police. However, the UP Police have just three police posts for the entire expressway. The police officers at Maat police post on the expressway said they receive at least five calls about accidents on the stretch each day.

“It is not easy to inform family members about the demise of their loved ones in an accident. I usually ask family members to come quickly saying their loved ones are in a serious condition. I do not have the courage to tell them the truth,” said Shiv Prasad, incharge, Maat police post, Yamuna Expressway.

“We have installed digital boards that display the registration number and speed of speeding vehicles. The speed limit for light vehicles is 100 km per hour, but most vehicles cross that limit. We keep telling drivers about hazards of drunken driving and speeding but in vain,” said an official of the expressway operator.

Mohammad Nezam Hassan, Additional Superintendent of Police, UP Traffic Directorate, said, “We had a meeting chaired by the Principal Secretary of the Transport Department last week on safety and security on all highways across the State. All authorities governing national highways, State highways and expressways were called to discuss traffic management and road safety.”

Mr. Hassan said traffic police had confiscated over 11,000 driving licences for speeding and drunken driving across UP and sent them for cancellation to the Transport Departments concerned, but only three licences were cancelled. He added that better coordination is needed among all enforcement agencies for safety on roads.