Three weeks after two people died when their truck fell off Yeshvanthpur Flyover in Bengaluru while negotiating a sharp bend, city-based Transport Engineering experts have recommended corrective measures to avoid such tragedies in the future. The accident which took place in the wee hours of April 13 killed the driver, 38-year-old Kenche Gowda, and 23-year-old Srinivas Rao. The duo was coming to Bengaluru from Pune when the lorry they were travelling in fell off the flyover after the driver lost control of the vehicle. While Srinivas died on the spot, Kenche Gowda succumbed to injuries later that evening at a nearby hospital.
That was not the first instance of a truck falling off in Bengaluru; in November 2017 a similar incident occurred when a truck full of poultry fell off a flyover. Fortunately, there were no human casualties in that incident.
Ashish Verma, Associate Professor, Transportation Systems Engineer at the Indian Institute of Science, carried out a voluntary academic road safety audit exercise of Yeshvanthpur flyover following the recent accident.
Verma explains that a combination of both horizontal and vertical curve at the same time— a poor design element— is a reason for the drivers to lose control of their vehicles.
“The flyover was built keeping in the account of a maximum speed of 30 kmph but vehicles tend to exceed the design speed in the non-busy hours, especially due to the downward slope of approaching roads on both ends of the flyover and then eventually lose control over the wheels while taking a turn. Additionally, vehicles approaching the flyover from both ends are unable to see the clear alignment of the road and this poor visibility is one of the major factors causing fatal accidents, especially at night,” Verma told TNM.
He added, “While in one direction (towards IISc), the vehicles have a risk of falling out of the flyover, the other direction they have a chance of crossing the median if the speed is exceeded. As explained in the study, either the mass or the speed increases, there is a problem.”
The recommendations
*Installation of a Height Restriction Barrier on the starting of the flyover in both the directions so as to restrict the entry of heavily loaded commercial vehicles.
*Installation of Rumble Strips to restrict the speed of vehicles
* Road sign and markings— Appropriate sharp bend (right hairpin) signage and speed limit signs, Appropriate road markings of speed limit can be painted at the beginning of the flyover at both ends, to remind the drivers of adhering to speed limit
*Crash or Rolling Barrier – Crash barrier can be put on the sharp turn so as to restrict a speed vehicle and prevent them from tilting or passing through the flyover in case of travelling at high speed and unable to control the vehicle.
*Speed enforcement cameras can be put on the road to keep a check on vehicle speed and fine can be charged in case a vehicle goes beyond the stipulated speed.
The study has been submitted to Bruhat Bengaluru Mahangara Palike Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad and Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Harishekharan. Besides Verma, Mahim Khan, Shubhayan Ukil and Hamnthini Allirani also worked on the study as research staff.