Hyderabad: Evening hours see the maximum road accidents not just due to rash driving but due to other factors like poor visibility and bad road conditions.
Each year the number of accidents goes up during the rainy season but many are not reported, say traffic cops. Motorists face visibility problems during the rainy season, and dangerous driving, speeding and zigzagging increase the chance of accidents.
Around five complaints per day about poor visibility on main roads are reported to the GHMC. “I filed a complaint on non-functioning of streetlights opposite Sultan Bazar, Gunfoundry Division on May 29 and subsequently reminded about the same on June 24 and July 9, but it has not been rectified. It is a highly commercial area and many accidents that are non-fatal go unreported; dangerous driving is an issue too. Commuters manage with the basic vehicle lights. Many even dash into parked vehicles and dividers,” a resident said.
Mr S. Sreenivasan of Srinivasanagar, Kapra, said, “My everyday travel route is from Banjara Hills to A.S. Rao Nagar. Due to the Metro works, the central lights have been removed between Begumpet and Patny; further, I connect to West or East Marredpally that have basic street lights. There’s no illumination throughout AOC up to the R.K. Puram bridge. And thanks to the huge hoarding that light up the roads at Neeremet up to Radhika, there are no regular poles.”
Not just on main roads, poor visibility in colonies is also an issue. “Due to the non-functioning of streetlights, there are high chances of theft,” said Mr Shain Raj of Venkat Reddy Nagar, Ramanthapur.
On accidents due to low visibility, Mr A.V. Ranganth of South Hyderabad Traffic, said that the department had conducted a special drive on improper lighting of vehicles, of which 80 per cent were two-wheelers without headlamps, indicators and tail lamps. But so far there has been no inspection on road illumination. Complaints to the Traffic Facebook page on poor lighting at different junctions, bad infrastructure, accidents that lead to serious injuries due to poor lighting are recorded, others go unreported.
He added, “Proper lighting includes proper lamps throughout the stretch and extra lights at the entry or exit of flyovers and cross-roads similar to those on the Outer Ring Road. The lighting should be such that a person can identify an object or vehicle from 50 metres.”
Traffic Hazards
National Crime Record Bureau’s Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India-2014 report stated that poor visibility, animals coming on the roads and parking of vehicles on road shoulders killed hundreds of people in AP and Telangana in 2014-15.
The NCRB stated lack of road infrastructure killed 51 people in Telangana.
Parking of vehicles on roadside, poor visibility cause fatal accidents – 154 died in Telangana in 2014-15
