BENGALURU: In yet another accident that should serve as a reminder to the traffic police and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to take steps to prevent such instances on Ballari Road (Airport Road), a 26-year-old lecturer in a private college was killed on the spot when a speeding bus jumped the median and collided head-on with the lecturer’s two-wheeler. This accident occurred near Byatarayanapura around 5.30 pm on Monday, December 13, 2021.
The deceased was identified as Nikhil Kumar G (26), a resident of Kogilu, and an MBA graduate. He was returning home from work when the accident occurred. A senior police officer said Nikhil was passing by Byatarayanapura on the flyover when a speeding private bus coming from Chikkaballapur Cross jumped the median and crashed into him. The impact was such that not only was Nikhil killed on the spot, the Hebbal traffic police had to get equipment to lift the bus to extricate his body from under it.
The bus driver Venkatesh also sustained injuries and has been admitted to a private hospital for treatment. He has been booked for reckless driving. In a similar mishap on the same road on November 18, three people, including two women, were killed on the spot when an over-speeding SUV collided head-on with a cab in the other carriageway after jumping the median.
Immediately after the incident, senior traffic police had instructed the NHAI officials to install vertical barricades to replace the flat medians which allow speeding vehicles to jump over easily and crash into oncoming traffic. The instructions to NHAI included raising the height of the dividers and installing proper lighting to prevent accidents. The traffic police have been repeatedly saying that the median height urgently needs to be increased.
However, almost a month later, no action has been taken. The road usually sees high-speed traffic to and from Kempegowda International Airport, with motorists consistently violating the 80 kmph speed limit.
Previous accidents
December 2020: A serial accident near Byatarayanapura flyover saw nine people escaping with minor injuries after two cars toppled. A cab coming towards Hebbal lost control of the vehicle, jumped the median and toppled. Three cars heading towards the airport hit each other while trying to avoid crashing into the cab
May 2020: Five members of a family, travelling from KIA to the city, were killed when a speeding ambulance jumped the median and crashed head-on into their car near Kogilu Cross
September 2017: Ganapathi (40), Nagaraju (45) and Darshan (29) were killed on the spot and six others were severely injured when their SUV hit the median on the Hunasamaranahalli flyover. Over-speeding caused a tyre to burst and the vehicle jumped the divider.