BENGALURU: The freedom to break free on the six-lane road leading to the Kempegowda International Airport is proving to be an irresistible temptation for many youngsters with hi-end bikes suffocated by the City’s traffic.
Within four months, 19 two-wheeler riders have been injured and three have lost their lives on this road. The sheer exhilaration of being able to zoom even over 200 km on a hi-end bike along this road without any signals enroute has ensured life and limb are at stake for these daredevils.
Almost 99 per cent of them are not heading to the airport but are just riding on this road to enjoy the ride and make a U-turn just before the airport, said a cop. “Some surge ahead to impress girlfriends on their pillion but many youngsters do it for the sheer thrill of riding together,” said an airport employee who uses the road. Apart from racing, the road has now emerged as a popular spot for carrying out wheelies too, he added.
A top police officer told The New Indian Express that it was risky for traffic cops to even attempt to stop these racers. “How do you stop someone who is making a dash at 210 km per hour?” he queries. “It would be a threat to one’s life to even stop such a rider, the officer added.
Due to the rush to catch flights by many, particularly the number of VIPs who use the route to reach airport, no kind of barricading to slow down speed, can be done here, the cop adds.
A representative at the Aster Airport Medical Centre adjacent to the airport terminal, said injuries to skin and limbs due to rash driving were becoming frequent on the road. “In some of the cases, the rider has driven so fast that the clothes on one’s person are in shreds when they fall on the road due to the impact of this. Since we are the nearest hospital around, they invariably land up here,” he said.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (Traffic), P Harishekharan said, “It is alarming if you look at the statistics as 19 injuries and three deaths have taken place within just four months. We had 44 injuries and six deaths for the entire 2018. We will concentrate on putting more cops there to ensure a deterrent to such rash driving.”