COIMBATORE: The Coimbatore City Traffic Police have decided to deploy additional units at major road stretches and key flyovers to strictly monitor and control over-speeding as it has become a major contributing factor to the increasing number of accidents and fatalities in the city in recent months.
Motorists also expressed serious concerns about the lack of adequate safety measures on the city's flyovers and have demanded better infrastructure and preventive steps to reduce the risk of accidents, especially during off-peak hours like early morning and late night.
On Thursday night, a 26-year-old labourer, Pradeep Kumar from Kurinji Nagar near Madukkarai died while riding his two-wheeler on the Tiruchy Road flyover.
Pradeep, who worked at a private firm in SIHS Colony near Singanallur, was returning home around 10.30 pm when he allegedly lost control of his bike due to over speeding while climbing the flyover.
The vehicle collided with an electricity pole mounted on the parapet wall, throwing him off and causing severe head injuries. He died on the spot, said police.
After autopsy, his body was handed over to the family on Friday evening. The Traffic Investigation Wing (TIW-East) registered a case and are investigating.
In another incident earlier this year, on February 7, 2026, A Varun Dharman (17) from Sasthri Nagar, Gandhipuram, died in a road accident on the Gandhipuram flyover along Sathyamangalam Road. Varun was speeding on a scooter with his two friends, P Mugunthan (15) from Tatabad near Rathinapuri and Sanjay, when he lost control of the vehicle. Varun and Mugunthan were rushed to Coimbatore Medical College Hospital, where Varun succumbed to his injuries.
According to Coimbatore city police statistics, the city recorded 28 road accident deaths in February 2026 alone, which roughly estimates to one death every day of the month. In Coimbatore city, from January till date, 48 people have died in various accidents.
Of these, 40 died due to overspeeding, said S Ashok Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic). "We have formed eight special teams to monitor vehicle traffic during night hours. However, people drive within speed limits only where the police are present," he added.
In the recent accident that happened on Tiruchy Road Flyover, the officer said that the youth who died was riding a 450 CC bike, typically used for adventure rides. He evaded the police vehicle check and got into an accident, dying on the spot.
"In this regard, every individual must develop awareness rather than just police monitoring or installing cameras for surveillance, which cannot provide a permanent solution," Ashok Kumar said.
The public urged for stronger safety measures on flyovers, including rumble strips, speed-detection cameras with live monitoring, clearly visible speed breakers at entrances and exits, and reflective markings or white lines to highlight existing speed breakers particularly important when poor visibility.
N Ramakrishnan, a labourer working at a shop near Iyer Hospital bus stop close to the Tiruchy Road flyover, pointed out that while the tail end of the flyover has speed breakers, the stretch lacks proper reflectors or visible white markings. "As a result, accidents continue to happen almost daily, mainly because of over-speeding and low visibility of these measures," he said. He noted youngsters often use the flyover for racing at night.
"With majority of deaths caused by over-speeding, officials have said that speed-related accidents are now significantly increased compared to the deaths linked to drunk driving. Even if we take several steps (manually), the accident rate cannot be controlled. It could be managed only if the government takes initiatives with the support of technologies like installing speed monitoring cameras across the city," a senior police officer said.