CHENNAI: Sunday evenings may be the ideal time to loosen up. But reckless driving this Sunday resulted in death of at least eight persons in a matter of 11 hours in different parts of the city.
The series of accidents started at 12.45 pm when Rithwik (19), an engineering student and driving a motorbike, rammed a van riding ahead of him, while a car hit from behind on the Madhuravoyal bypass road. The boy who fell down sustained head injuries and died on the spot. The Chromepet traffic investigation wing has registered a case and arrested Raviraj, van driver and Mohan, car diver.
In the second accident, M Gurumurthy (24) of Nanganallur who worked as a painter was riding his twowheeler along with his friend I Kalaiselvan (24) of Meenambakkam, who works as a gym master, on the pillion.
“The duo were going to meet at 2.45 pm, when Gurumurthy lost balance of the bike at Meenambakkam subway and rammed a wall,” said a policeman. They were rushed to a government Chrompet hospital, where Gurumurthy died.In a gap of two hours, at 4.30 pm, D Santhosh Kumar (36) of Bihar, a daily labourer, was walking near the Ennore Express Road, when he was knocked down by an unidentified car. Passersby rushed him to Stanley hospital, where he succumbed at 8.15 pm. A case has been registered at the Ennore police station.
At 8 pm, van driver R Suresh Kumar (36), of Ambattur, was riding his Honda Shine near the ICF Colony Main Road near Slum Clearance Board quarters. “J Kishore (20) of Ayapakkam, a second-year engineering student, was riding rashly on his Splendor and knocked Suresh down,” said a police personnel.The duo were not wearing helmets. Suresh was rushed to a private hospital and was declared brought dead.His body was sent to the Kilpauk Medical College and Hospital. A case has been registered by the Thirumangalam traffic investigation wing.
In a distance of about 10 km, two persons on a bike were fatally knocked down by an MTC bus near Konnur High Road in Aynavaram.
R Manikandan (20) of Villivakkam worked as a painter, and his friend S Tamilarasan (19) of the same locality was unemployed. “They were on the way to meet a freind, on a bike ridden by Manikandan. As they reached the Konnur High Road, he was riding beside an MTC bus (No 48 plying from Villivakkam to Vallalar Nagar). The bus driver failed to notice the boys riding on the left side and took a left turn and the bus knocked the duo. Meanwhile, Manikandan lost control of the vehicle. The duo fell down and sustained severe head injuries as they were not wearing a helmet,” said a policeman.
The duo died on the spot and the bodies were sent to the KMC Hospital for autopsy.The bus driver, S Mani (47) of Ambattur, has been arrested.
An hour later, at 10. 40 pm, Rajani (25) was walking on the GNT Road near Red Hills when he was fatally knocked down by an unkown car.“The car driver, however, did not stop the vehicle and escaped from the scene. Passersby rushed Rajani to the hospital where he succumbed to injuries,” said the police source. Poonamallee traffic investigation wing a case.In a similar accident at 11.15 pm, S Manigandan (31) of North Telephone Street in MMC, who worked as a software engineer at Ambattur Estate, was riding his two-wheeler when he was knocked down by a lorry.Police said, Manigandan was approaching 200-feet Road in Madhavaram when a container lorry rammed the bike killing him on the spot. Driver M Ram Kumar (58), of Virudhunagar, has been arrested.
Bi-tyred
Except in two incidents, all accidents were involving two-wheelers. In two cases, the mishap happened after the driver of a larger vehicle failed to notice a two-wheeler going alongside