Over-speeding resulting in tyre bursts key reason for 80 % accidents on Yamuna Expressway

Greater Noida: The Yamuna Expressway, designated for seamless drive from Greater Noida to Agra, is proving to be a bane for those who use it for saving time and end up over-speeding their vehicles that in turn result in bursting of tyres.

Whether it is Sunday accident in which four students of Galgotia University were killed and left six others injured or hundreds of cases of accidents since its operation in 2012, over-speeding has surfaced a major reason this high speed corridor.

The 165-km long stretch, in the first year of operation, had witnessed more that 50 road accidents with near two-and-half dozen fatal cases. The sordid state of affair is that the rate of accident has gone up alarmingly as over 500 accident cases have been reported this year in which more than 100 people have been died so far.

The District Magisrate of Gautam Buddh Nagar BN Singh, however, said that baring a few incidents in recent past, cases have come down this year falling under his area. "We have been taking measures on regular basis resulting in drop of accident cases," said Singh.

Data of various police stations reveals that nearly 80 per cent of total accidents, which left hundreds of people dead while thousands of injured, have been due to overspeeding and tyre bursts. Expressway officials, however, claim that there is no specific pattern of accidents other than due to overspeeding.

"People need to drive cautiously and within the speed limit. Also, for driving a long distance, the condition of tyres needs to be minutely checked to reduce the risk of overheating and bursting of tyres," said the official.

"We are planning to reserve separate police force for patrolling on Yamuna Expressway. We have installed speed guns at all toll plazas and provide information to police about those vehicles which cross the speed limit of 100-kilometre per hour," said the SP.

An RTI reply, in August this year, had revealed that between the period of January 1 to June 30, 2017, total 432 road accidents were registered by police in which 78 casualties were reported on the 196 km long Yamuna Expressway. Further, in five-and-half years since its opening, the expressway has seen the deaths of 626 people in 4,505 accidents with 2016 reporting the highest number of accidents in a year.

The authorities claim that apart from routine measures they convene sessions with Automotive Tyre manufacturers' Association (ATMA) to spread awareness about the road safety.