A slight commotion prevailed at NICE Road intersection in Konappana Agrahara Junction on Hosur main road on Thursday morning when a Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) bus hit a car. The car was turning left to enter NICE Road when the accident occurred. The traffic police manning the junction said that it is a usual scene every day.
While minor accidents may not go into the records as complaints are not filed, the Bengaluru police’s data shows that in the last three years, 25 major accidents were reported at this junction that has both entry and exit points to NICE and road connecting to Electronics City, an IT hub. In the case of Thursday’s accident, both the BMTC and car drivers were seemingly at fault for rash and negligent driving. About 500 metres on both sides of the stretch from the junction has been identified as an accident black spot by the Bengaluru City Police, who have also suggested measures to avoid such incidents.
The cause for minor accidents (no injuries) that happen everyday on this stretch is speeding, negligence, signal jumping, lack of lane discipline and uneven road, said the police.
A traffic police personnel who mans the junction said during morning and evening peak hours, negligence is a major cause. People turning towards Electronics City on Hosur Road cross jump signals, ramming vehicles travelling straight on the stretch. “We record more than a dozen violations just in an hour during peak time,” he said, adding that measures taken may not yield much result if discipline is lacking in motorists.
Lakshmi Patel, who runs a shop here and travels daily on her two-wheeler, said the at the junction - both near the signal and NICE intersection - some vehicles moving on the extreme right cross from right-to-left to move over to NICE Road, which is a major cause for accidents.
Speeding at night
A senior traffic police personnel said while negligence causes accidents during peak hours, overspeeding is major reason for fatal and major accidents during the night not just in this junction, but also at Naganathapura Junction, Veerasandra Junction, Electronics City Phase 1 and Garebhavipalya Junction.
In the night hours, owing to less traffic, drivers tend to go fast. The drivers in the wee hours doze off, ending up in fatal accidents. On the other hand, some callous individuals enter this road for joy rides and usually overspeed, the police pointed out.
At the junction where three roads join, many vehicles crisscross in the night hours jumping the signals. The speeding vehicles coming on Hosur road ram into these vehicles crossing at the junction, they said. At the junction, driver of overspeeding vehicles cannot control the vehicles and to avoid this, rumble strips should be installed, they added.
Besides these, in the absence of pedestrian crossing at Veerasandra Junction, vehicles moving fast on this stretch hit the people crossing the road. The volume of vehicles moving at this junction is such that pedestrians have to wait for long before crossing. Out of frustration, people tend to run at the junction, said Mohammad Sawad, who is regular commuter here.
