Fog leads to massive car pile-up on Expressway
About 50 cars piled up in an accident at 27km from the zero point on the Yamuna Expressway due to foggy conditions. The police informed that a 57-year old woman had died due to head injuries; 22 injured were taken to the nearest hospital by the cops and the Expressway staff. The massive accident led to an hour-long traffic jam till roads were cleared.
Yamuna Expressway is a 165 km long route which connects Greater Noida with the industrial hub of Agra in UP. This Rs.128.39 billion project is India's longest six-lane controlled-access expressway stretch. This ambitious project was proposed by former UP Chief Minister Mayawati and was inaugurated by the present CM of UP, Akhilesh Yadav in 2012, two years ahead of the target date of completion.
The 165 km-long Expressway has recorded 2,194 accidents withing 3 years. According to the Yamuna Expressway statistics, there was a massive increase in the accident toll from 275 in 2012 to 896 in 2013.
The Yamuna Expressway was facing risks of fatal accidents due to over-speeding vehicles in heavy fog conditions. The Central Road Research Institute recommended the motorists on the expressway to refrain from speeding their vehicles because of low visibility as it might lead to fatal accidents. Since the Expressway's inauguration in 2012, there have been 16,635 fines for speeding against 3,171 violations by motorists.
The UP transport department had identified 30 black spots on the Yamuna Expressway, where accidents were rampant owing to faulty road engineering and bad lighting. The UP government asked NHAI, the UP-Public Works Department and the National Highways Division- PWD for a speedy correction. Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority's CEO suggestedan awareness drive against over-speeding by putting up signboards to ensure commuters' safety.
Dozens were injured as 30 vehicles rammed into one another on the Yamuna Expressway due to foggy conditions in Mathura in December 2015. Fourteen were injured as vehicles collided at the 63rd milestone of the Expressway due to thick fog on 8th January 2016. Five died in a family due to car overturning near milestone 79 on 11 January 2016.
