Who wants to miss the thrill of riding to Nandi Hills, the most preferred destination of youngsters in Bangalore? However, most of the time, youngsters seem to ignore safety resulting in fatal crashes.
According to Devanahalli traffic police, from January 1 this year, 60 people have lost their lives in fatal accidents on this stretch. The case of Sneha Prabhakar (19), a resident of HSR Layout, and a BE student, is
the latest addition to the numbers.
Sneha was on her way to Nandi Hills on Monday with her friends. She was riding pillion on a Yamaha Fazer bike (KA 05 HY 9466) with her friend P Manu (20).
Two others, Nobel Thomas and Saleem, were with them on two other bikes. All were riding at a high speed of about 95 kmph, according to the police. The speed limit on the road is 60 kmph.
Sneha had no clue that her life would end as soon as she reached the foothills, just after crossing the Bangalore International Airport Road.
At Neelenahalli Cross, four people on two bikes were coming towards city. They too were speeding at over 90 kmph on their two-wheelers, police said.
One of the riders, Ashish K Verghese, a BBM student of CMR college, overtook a car and came straight out in front of Sneha’s friends’ bikes. Ashish lost control and touched her friend’s vehicle. Manu tilted the vehicle almost to the ground to escape collision and got away without a scratch.
However, Sneha fell on the road, and her head was crushed by a bike coming from the opposite direction. The impact was such that Sneha died on the spot. Traffic was halted on the stretch for more than 30 minutes.
Devanahalli traffic police, who rushed to the spot, arrested Ashish K Verghese and seized his vehicle. He was later sent to police custody.
The police explained that though they do their best to avoid overspeeding on this stretch, youngsters who ride on high-end bikes manage to dodge them. “Even if we try to stop them, they won’t. It is not possible for us to physically stop these vehicles as they zoom past at over 90 to 100 kmph. Since January till date as many as 80 cases of accidents are reported on this stretch of the road,” Devanahalli traffic police said.
Among these, 24 accident cases involved gory deaths such as Sneha’s case.
More than 30 people, most of them young, have lost their lives while more than 50 were seriously injured, according to the police statistics.
Devanahalli traffic police are investigating the case.