Mumbai-Pune Expressway accident: Light sensors to cure tunnel blindness

A range of safety issues has attracted the attention of Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) after Sunday's accident that claimed 17 lives. And to resolve these, MSRDC will meet with highway police and IRB Infrastructure Developers today and discuss the matter. Authorities discovered that drivers suffer from momentary blindness after exiting dark tunnels. There are only four spots to halt on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.

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A host of safety issues were highlighted after Sunday's accident on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. File pic

Bright blindness
There are nine tunnels on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway that are 6-km long and will soon have light controlling sensors to prevent drivers from experiencing temporary blindness on exiting the tunnels. An MSRDC official said, "We are trying our best to overcome most of the errors. To resolve a problem of bright blindness, the IRB is placing light controlling sensors that can adjust the light as per day and night so that drivers do not face any issue of blindness when they drive out of the tunnel and this will help avoid accidents."

Also read: Poor road sense, rash driving caused accident on Mumbai-Pune Expressway

Accident-prone spots
Between April 2015 to May 2016, around 153 accidents have taken place on the expressway at locations including Wadgoan, Khandala, Bhorghat, Palase and around 96 people have died in these accidents. "Most of the accidents occur at Amrutanjan Bridge as it is very steep and has an S-shaped turn. With similar qualities, Khandala exit point and Kune Bridge have also become accident-prone spots. Kusgaon and Devale Bridge are part of the list too," said a traffic cop deployed at the expressway.

Also read: First-person account of accident on Mumbai-Pune Expressway

Halts
The 93-km-long Mumbai-Pune Expressway has four halting spots and Sunday's accident too was caused after a car with a flat tyre stopped midway in the first lane. Also, continuous driving can heat up the tyres, which can result in them bursting. "The four spots are sufficient and if we make arrangements for more there are chances that the traffic will be uncontrollable. So a break after 30 km is sufficient," the MSRDC official added.