Safety measures in cold storage

Pune: Vehicles jumping over the median and crashing into cars travelling in the opposite corridor of the Pune-Mumbai expressway have been regular over the past few years. Some accidents have been fatal.
In December 2012, well-know Marathi film and theatre personalities Anand Abhyankar and Akshay Pendse died after a truck jumped the median and crashed into their car.In January 2013, ten people died after vehicles crossed the median and crashed into theirs.
Over the years, TOI has been focusing on these accidents and the measures that must be taken to prevent them. State highway police, Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), IRB officials and the state government have been planning several measures to prevent accidents.
In December 2012, a high-level committee including the highway police and MSRDC had come up with safety measures to prevent crossing over of vehicles from one corridor to another, plugging unauthorized median punctures and watering plants to prevent them from drying up so that they buffer errant vehicles. Corporation officials said work on two safety measures had already started, but were implemented partially, or not implemented at all.
The corporation had decided to string Brifen wire-ropes for safety, but only at accident-prone spots. So far, only 14km of these steel ropes have been installed on the 95km expressway, showing utter neglect to efforts to make the expressway safer.
The corporation has also installed crash barriers at some places, but these cannot prevent vehicles from coming on to the opposite corridor. The proposal to install CCTV cameras for checking such violations has been pending for eight years now.
Senior state highway officials said there has been a lot of correspondence with the corporation where they have been asked to install additional Brifen wire-ropes, undertake repairs to the damaged steel ropes, plug unauthorized median breaks, and undertake repairs to the compound wall or fence where they have been broken.
Highway officials also point out that most incidents have occurred due to rash driving, speeding, faults in the design of some road sections, gaps in the medians and tyre bursts. Drivers also lose control over vehicles. There is a 7m wide median, but there are no barriers at many places.
Superintendent of highway police (Pune region) S G Sonawane said, "The director general of police, two months ago, met MSRDC officials, and other stakeholders about safety on the expressway. These issues were discussed. However, the authorities are not doing anything. There have to be safety norms on every expressway. Here, the proposal of installing CCTV cameras is pending for eight years. With these cameras, police can take action against speeding, lane cutting and other violations. Though we take action against speeding, it is limited."
Deputy superintendent of police Madhuri Kangane said, "Light vehicles such as cars suffer maximum damage due to overspeeding. The persons travelling in these cars suffer serious injuries or succumb to injuries. The speed limit of the cars is more than 100kmph."
Road safety experts said barricades must be installed to prevent vehicles from crossing the median, initially at accident prone spots.
A senior MSRDC official said, "At present, Brifen wire-ropes have been installed only in patches for about 14km. We cannot tell the exact locations, but they have been installed mostly at accident-prone spots." There is a proposal for installing the steel ropes, but not along the entire stretch, he added.