Here are the Observations of road accidents on the stretch and suggestions to prevent such accidents were made after the Audit.
Coimbatore: A Road Safety Audit of the Ramanathapuram-Sungam flyover was held on July 23 by Highway and IIT Engineers in Coimbatore.
The following observations were made:
* The flyover alignment is along the existing road plan and, hence, that is an acceptable alignment.
* There are two back-to-back sharp horizontal curves that are the locations of recent accidents.
* The design speed assumed is 40 kmph and at this speed, the current road alignment is safe.
* The accidents are most likely a result of over-speeding.
* The fatal accidents involved two-wheeler riders who were thrown off the flyover.
The Highway Engineers suggested two short-term measures that can be implemented to reduce likelihood of accidents on the flyover in the future:
1. Installation of two speed-monitoring devices (one for each approach at about 150 m before the curves) along with a LED display board to provide feedback to the drivers on their speed and a warning note if they are speeding. Drivers of vehicles who are found to be speeding can be penalised without exception.
2. The concrete barriers are more effective for larger vehicles than for motorcycle riders since they do not absorb energy from a motorcycle crash. Motorcycle-friendly crash barriers (roller type or mesh type or similar crash absorbing/deflecting barriers) can be installed along the curves to prevent the motorcyclists from being thrown off the vehicle on impact.
Also, provision of multiple speed breakers along the flyover, while effective in reducing accidents, has the undesired effect of also increasing travel time, congestion, discomfort, and emissions. In extreme cases, the speed breakers may also cause accidents. Hence, after installation of the above speed-monitoring devices and better crash barriers, the speed breakers can be removed.
The following observations were made:
* The flyover alignment is along the existing road plan and, hence, that is an acceptable alignment.
* There are two back-to-back sharp horizontal curves that are the locations of recent accidents.
* The design speed assumed is 40 kmph and at this speed, the current road alignment is safe.
* The accidents are most likely a result of over-speeding.
* The fatal accidents involved two-wheeler riders who were thrown off the flyover.
The Highway Engineers suggested two short-term measures that can be implemented to reduce likelihood of accidents on the flyover in the future:
1. Installation of two speed-monitoring devices (one for each approach at about 150 m before the curves) along with a LED display board to provide feedback to the drivers on their speed and a warning note if they are speeding. Drivers of vehicles who are found to be speeding can be penalised without exception.
2. The concrete barriers are more effective for larger vehicles than for motorcycle riders since they do not absorb energy from a motorcycle crash. Motorcycle-friendly crash barriers (roller type or mesh type or similar crash absorbing/deflecting barriers) can be installed along the curves to prevent the motorcyclists from being thrown off the vehicle on impact.
Also, provision of multiple speed breakers along the flyover, while effective in reducing accidents, has the undesired effect of also increasing travel time, congestion, discomfort, and emissions. In extreme cases, the speed breakers may also cause accidents. Hence, after installation of the above speed-monitoring devices and better crash barriers, the speed breakers can be removed.