The spot of the accident between a goods vehicle and a canter near Nelamangala on Sunday.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Three people – two labourers in a goods carrier and a pedestrian – were killed and five others severely injured in a road accident in Kuluvanahalli village near Nelamangala on National Highway 48, on the outskirts of the city on Sunday evening.
The stretch on which the fatality occurred is an accident blackspot, which has reported over 15 fatal and non-fatal accidents in the past month, a senior police official said.
The accident occurred when the goods vehicle the two deceased labourers were travelling in collided with a canter when the goods vehicle took a U-turn at a T junction in Kuluvanahalli village.
The deceased have been identified as Husainappa Asif, 32, Narsappa Beerappa 35, labourers from Yadgir, residing on the outskirts of the city, who had gone to work on Sunday to earn extra money and were returning home in a goods vehicle that had offered to drop them home, and Shivanna Betta Somappa, 50, a pedestrian from Talenahalli village near Dabaspet.
C.K. Baba, Superintendent of Police, Bengaluru Rural District, who visited the spot, said that the accident occurred as the goods vehicle carrying these labourers, took a free left turn onto the highway at the T junction without observing oncoming traffic. “Concurrently, the canter traveling on the main highway from Tumakuru towards Bengaluru, was speeding and collided with the rear of the goods vehicle. At the same time, a pedestrian was crossing the highway through the median,” he said.
Due to the impact of the collision, both the vehicles were severely damaged and blocked traffic for sometime. The police roped in emergency services to pull the victims out of the vehicles and shift them to hospitals.
Fixing the accident blackspot
The district police have now listed out their recommendations to fix the accident blackspot. These recommendations include installation of advance warning signs well ahead of the junction to alert drivers about the upcoming T-junction and free left turn and to put up speed control measures like rumble strips or speed bumps before the junction to ensure vehicles reduce speed.
The police have also recommended designated pedestrian crossings with clear markings and signage away from high-speed traffic areas.
