By Our Staff Reporter
Roorkee, 7 Jan: Yet another tragic road accident occurred in Uttarakhand today, a state notorious for its frequent and often fatal road mishaps. Reckless driving claimed two lives and left another person critically injured when a roadways bus crushed two bike riders and a scooter rider on the Roorkee-Laksar Road this morning.
The incident occurred when a bus from the Rishikesh depot, on its way from Haridwar to Roorkee, attempted a risky overtaking manoeuvre on the wrong side near a petrol pump ahead of Nagla Imarti. During the attempt, the bus collided with two bikes and a scooter coming from the opposite direction. The impact was so severe that the two-wheelers were dragged a considerable distance, leaving a scene of devastation.
The driver fled the site, abandoning the bus, while a large crowd gathered, resulting in a major traffic jam on the highway. Civil Lines Kotwali Police and CO Narendra Pant rushed to the scene immediately after receiving the information. The Police with the help of other rescuers from the public, shifted the injured to the Roorkee Civil Hospital, where the doctors declared two persons as brought dead while, the third person, also in a critical condition was later referred to a private hospital for advance treatment. The police have launched an investigation into the accident. The traffic resumed after police cleared the road, which had remained blocked for over an hour following the accident.
Poor traffic management by the Traffic Police and reckless driving even by bus and truck drivers in the state has resulted in a very high frequency of serious road accidents in the state. There seems to be no major plan in place to prevent the accidents even as public outrage is growing and such incidents continue to claim innocent lives. Questions arise about the accountability of roadways and the adequacy of measures including proper training to inculcate safe driving practices among the drivers, besides the need for stricter enforcement of traffic laws, better road safety education, and improved monitoring of commercial vehicle drivers to prevent such tragedies in the future.
