Bypass turns killing zone

KOCHI: The national highway bypass from Edappally to Aroor is turning out to be the prime accident-prone area in the city. In the wee hours of Monday, a speeding lorry rammed into a car park on the bypass in Palarivattom area killing a person. Similarly, another accident was reported last week on the same stretch. According to the 2011 statistics of the accidents in the city, around 20 per cent of the deadly mishaps took place on the bypass stretch. More than 40 accidents took place last year claiming the lives of more than 20 persons and critically injuring 40 people. The reason cited is the speeding of vehicles and the failure of the police to monitor them.Often there is no speed checking conducted here at night when most of the accidents have occurred. Even though the speed limit is 60 kilometers, most the vehicles, including the lorries, move at over 80 km. Some cars move at a speed of 100 km per hour.“Over 60 per cent of accidents involving heavy vehicles, especially lorries, happen here. We are short of gadgets like speed tracker to monitor these vehicles,” police officials said.The lorry drivers know where the police will be present and they slow down at those places. “The regular drivers know the exact place where interceptor or police with speed tracking system are standing. So before reaching these areas they slow down. When they cross these areas, they increase the speed. Another major issue is the large number of vehicles travelling through this area. When vehicles come together, it is  hard to trace a single erring vehicle with our current system,” police officials said.