Mumbai: Make roads safe first, then go after seat belt, say experts

The Sakwar flyover on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway, on September 10. Pic/Satej Shinde

Citizens and experts have flayed the authorities after mid-day revealed that scores of streetlights on the bridges on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway are being switched off at night to save on the electricity bill. The busy carriageway has been in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, from potholes to poor design, after former Tata Group chairman Cyrus Mistry died in a road accident on it on September 4. They demanded strict action against the contractors and officials.

During the test drive at night between Mumbai and Charoti, mid-day had found that there was an utter lack of signage at dangerous spots and no streetlights on 18 of the 21 bridges. An investigation by this newspaper showed that the road operators had switched off the lights to save money.

"The authorities should be filing a criminal conspiracy case against all the guilty contractors for their act of deliberately causing injury and deaths in motor accidents," Jitendra Gupta of Citizen Transport Committee said.

Also read: More than 59,000 killed in accidents on Maha roads in less than five years

No functioning streetlights on Boisar flyover on the Ahmedabad highway on September 10. Pic/Satej Shinde

"Not just contractors, but the buck stops at the top. Negligence of service and dereliction of duty are the factors that should be addressed for the matter to stand in the court of law," said transport activist and architect Jagdeep Desai. The stretch where Mistry was killed has claimed 26 lives in 2022 so far.

"Everyone from top to bottom must be booked together for this negligence which took so many lives in these eight months. Don't spare any," citizen group Pothole Warriors' Foundation said.

Seat belt not key: Experts

Experts also criticised Union minister Nitin Gadkari's statement, which came after Mistry's death, that the Centre would now make it mandatory for all travellers in a car to wear a seat belt. They said the seat belt is a diversion from the original issue of road safety and faulty road engineering.

"Rear seat belts will definitely help as they would prevent the passenger from being flung forward in case of a crash. For highways and expressways, they should be made compulsory. Inside the city, they can be optional but like in an aircraft there can be an advisory to wear them on roads where cars travel on speed e.g. sea link, Eastern Freeway, etc. Seat belts should also be made compulsory for intercity buses. But in ST buses I don't know what can be done," said AV Shenoy, senior transport expert with Mumbai Mobility Forum & Mumbai Vikas Samiti.

The seat belt rule has existed since 2017, said experts

"I think the seat belt issue is an escape from the main issue. The rear seat belt issue is not new. It first came into focus when Congress leader Rajesh Pilot died around 2000. Then came the death of BJP leader Gopinath Munde around 2014, said Gupta of Citizen Transport Committee.

He said, "Soon statements might come for the safety of children in the rear seat as well as for pets in a car. In 2017, it was already covered as a mandatory provision in the amended Motor Vehicle Act. It is shocking that if something is already in an Act passed by parliament, why the minister has to sign it now for getting it enforced? Are we being taken for a ride? The public is treated like football. Each time an accident happens, we are fooled by diverting the core issue."

26
No of deaths this year on stretch Cyrus Mistry died

18
No of bridges between Mumbai and Charoti where streetlights were not functional