LUCKNOW: A fortnight after a bus skidded and fell off the Yamuna expressway, killing 29 passengers on board, the state government announced rumble strips would be installed every 15km on the stretch to prevent drivers from exceeding the speed limit and also keep them alert. Also, gaps and open culverts on the expressway would be levelled and cemented, said industrial development minister Satish Mahana in the Assembly on Thursday.
The issue was raised by BSP MLA Sukdeo Rajbhar who said most accidents were caused by tyre bursts and drivers dozing off on the wheel. Rajbhar claimed more than 400 accidents occurred on Lucknow-Agra expressway since it became operational.
Rumble strips would alert drivers and force them to slow down, said Mahana. Experts, however, said rumble strips defeat the purpose of an expressway. “This is not the way to control speed. The state government should ensure compliance of speed limits, rather than putting up speed breakers,’’ said former chief engineer of PWD JP Jain.
Mahana also told the Assembly the state government would develop a trauma centre in Kannauj to provide medical help to accident victims. The state government would also get a mobile application developed that would allow passengers to track location of ambulances and police once they hit the expressway. Also, illegal dhabas along the expressway would be shut as they pose a hazard, he said.
Mahana also told the assembly the state government would ban parking of heavy vehicles, including trucks and buses along the expressway.
The government’s overdrive to curb accidents comes close on heels of UP Expressway Industrial Development Authority setting a 3-hour time-limit for plying on the Lucknow-Agra expressway. Mahana said the state government has already begun issuing e-challans to drivers who exceed 100 km/hr on the expressway or cover the distance in less than three hours. He said the driver would also undergo a breath-analyser test and if found drunken, their licences would be cancelled.
The issue was raised by BSP MLA Sukdeo Rajbhar who said most accidents were caused by tyre bursts and drivers dozing off on the wheel. Rajbhar claimed more than 400 accidents occurred on Lucknow-Agra expressway since it became operational.
Rumble strips would alert drivers and force them to slow down, said Mahana. Experts, however, said rumble strips defeat the purpose of an expressway. “This is not the way to control speed. The state government should ensure compliance of speed limits, rather than putting up speed breakers,’’ said former chief engineer of PWD JP Jain.
Mahana also told the Assembly the state government would develop a trauma centre in Kannauj to provide medical help to accident victims. The state government would also get a mobile application developed that would allow passengers to track location of ambulances and police once they hit the expressway. Also, illegal dhabas along the expressway would be shut as they pose a hazard, he said.
Mahana also told the assembly the state government would ban parking of heavy vehicles, including trucks and buses along the expressway.
The government’s overdrive to curb accidents comes close on heels of UP Expressway Industrial Development Authority setting a 3-hour time-limit for plying on the Lucknow-Agra expressway. Mahana said the state government has already begun issuing e-challans to drivers who exceed 100 km/hr on the expressway or cover the distance in less than three hours. He said the driver would also undergo a breath-analyser test and if found drunken, their licences would be cancelled.
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