Identified ‘black spots’, especially on national and State highways, in Tirupattur and Vellore districts will become safer in the coming weeks as the police have started implementing road safety measures at these accident-prone junctions.
Of the 35 ‘black spots’ in Tirupattur, blinkering lights, reflectors and signage have been installed at 11 spots, including Jolarpettai, Kodiyur, Ponneri, Mandalavadi and Minnur EB junctions, to prevent fatal accidents, especially ones involving pedestrians.
“We are also conducting a study to assess any drop in fatal accidents at these spots, especially after COVID-19. Safety measures at black spots vary with each location depending on the cause of the accidents,” Albert John, Superintendent of Police (SP) (Tirupattur), told The Hindu.
Most of these ‘black spots’ are on Chennai-Bengaluru Highway (NH 44) and Hogenakkal-Tirupattur High Road (SH 60), which connects Pennagaram and Dharmapuri with Tirupattur. A total of 82 pedestrians have been killed due to road accidents at these spots since January. On an average, 259 persons have been killed, mainly at these spots, in the district every year since 2017.
The police said most of these junctions on highways had unmanned pedestrian crossings, making it unsafe for walkers. As most of the national highways have a speed limit of around 90 kmph, motorists also drive at high speeds. In addition to zebra crossings and barricades with reflective stickers, blinkering lights help motorists be wary of pedestrian movement at these junctions, the police said.
In Vellore, Other District Roads (ODR), also known as village roads, are deadlier than highways as 45 pedestrians were killed on these muddy stretches till June 30. In total, 140 persons have died at ‘black spots’ in the district since January.
At the consultative meeting on road safety measures, which was attended by Regional Transport Officers at the SP office in Vellore on Friday, N. Manivannan, SP (Vellore), directed officials of the National Highways Authority of India, State Highways Department and Vellore Corporation, who were in attendance, to jointly inspect ‘black spots’ to analyse the cause of the accidents. A decision to rope in the National Cadet Corps and National Service Scheme volunteers to regulate traffic in the district was also taken at the meeting.
