In a tragic incident, a Bengaluru man who had warned people in his neighbourhood about the heavy traffic on the road died in an accident two days later.
Raghunath, a senior citizen living in Bengaluru’s Bannerghatta, was killed on the evening of Tuesday, January 3, after he was hit by a speeding bike.
BCCL
Raghunath was walking near his residence in Classic Orchards Layout at around 7 pm when he was knocked down by a biker.
He was rushed to a hospital but died later.
Traffic on the road is increasing: he warned
Just two days before his tragic death, Raghunath had spoken about the danger due to the increase in traffic on their road.
“The traffic on the trunk road is increasing and also becoming unruly and haphazardly with honking. Can we request the traffic police to station one or two constables and also look at additional barricades. Thanks,” the message he posted on the Telegram group of the Residents Welfare Association read.
Srinivas Alavilli
Accident waiting to happen
“This was an accident waiting to happen. Due to metro construction on Bannerghatta Road, diversions were made which led to heavy traffic flow for past few days. Community proactively reached out to concerned departments but tragedy struck,” Srinivas Alavilli, a Bengaluru-based citizen activist who shared the message on Twitter, said.
“Pedestrians are the most vulnerable in our city. We have a terrible track record. In 2022, 228 pedestrians lost their lives on Bengaluru roads. 737 injured. Senior citizens are terrified to step out of their homes – the pensioners paradise is long gone. We must reclaim our city,” he said further.
Pedestrians are the most vulnerable in our city. We have a terrible track record. In 2022, 228 pedestrians lost their lives on Bengaluru roads. 737 injured. Senior citizens are terrified to step out of their homes – the pensioners paradise is long gone. We must reclaim our city pic.twitter.com/a6TeTnmAiT
— Srinivas Alavilli (@srinualavilli) January 5, 2023
According to Srinivas, it was a sudden increase in traffic on this particular stretch due to road closure elsewhere for metro construction, as the authorities did make alternate plans but didn’t execute them.
Bengaluru’s killer roads
A study by the World Resources Institute (WRI) in 2022 found that more than 500 pedestrians lost their lives while trying to cross the roads in Bengaluru.
BCCL
As per the crash data analysed by World Resources Institute (WRI), India, a research organisation, there were 907 pedestrian fatalities during the four years, of which 60% were killed while crossing the roads.
The study found that 32% of total pedestrian deaths were of those aged above 60.
The data showed that road accidents claimed 2,739 lives in Bengaluru between 2017 and 2020.
BCCL
Experts cite the lack of pedestrian infrastructure, especially safer crossings, on most roads as the primary reason for the increase in pedestrian deaths. Instead of constructing foot overbridges, there should be safe at-grade crossings.
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