This stretch on Bengaluru’s Mysuru Road is riddled with potholes. The stretch near Nayandahalli is a motorist’s nightmare and it proved deadly to a 47-year-old woman.
Radha, a resident of Bengaluru’s Shyampura, left home along with her nephew Ravi Kumar to visit her ailing mother in Ramanagara district on Sunday morning.
When they reached Nayandahalli, Ravi Kumar was reportedly riding slowly as he knew about the infamous potholes on the stretch.
“My brother was riding the Honda Activa slowly as the road had a lot of potholes. He applied brakes to avoid a pothole. A truck which was right behind their vehicle hit the Activa. My brother fell to the left and my aunt fell to the right side of the road,” said Devaraj.
According to Inspector Balakrishna of the Byatarayanapura Police Station, the truck ran over the woman’s neck.
“She died instantly. We received a call from Ravi Kumar and we rushed to the spot. Her body has been shifted to Victoria Hospital for an autopsy,” Inspector Balakrishna added.
The driver, Totiyan Ramesh (36) was arrested and booked under sections 279 (rash driving) and 305 (causing death by negligence) of the IPC.
“The driver has been questioned and he says that the woman fell down first and the truck ran over her after that. The relatives are claiming that Ravi Kumar had applied brakes due to the pothole and the truck driver hit the Activa. We are probing the matter,” Inspector Balakrishna added.
On October 3, Sagai Mary (53) and Anthony Joseph (55), residents of JJ Nagar, were taking their granddaughter to a private hospital. They were on a two-wheeler and while crossing Sirsi Flyover, Anthony tried to veer left to avoid a pothole. He lost control of the bike and the couple fell down.
A Tamil Nadu road transport bus, which was right behind them, ran over the couple who died on the spot.
Pothole deaths
According to a report by Times of India, 11,386 people across the country were killed in pothole-related accidents over the past four years. In these corresponding years, 189 lives were lost in potholes-related deaths in Karnataka.
The Road Accidents in India Report 2015 states that out of 182 accidents in Karnataka, 38 occurred due to potholes. The report states that 465 accidents and 82 deaths in Karnataka were caused due to the road being under repair or under construction. Out of these, 248 accidents resulting in 55 deaths occurred due to “loose soil”.