Traffic Police's U-turn leads to vehicle crash at Vikhroli signal

Days after the dangerous Godrej signal at Vikhroli - which was closed for a few days following mid-day series - is re-opened, accident puts traffic police in a bind

The traffic police's turnaround on its decision to close the dangerous U-turn at the Godrej signal on the Eastern Express Highway (EEH) in Vikhroli led to an accident on the notoriously fatal stretch on Sunday morning. While neither of the two drivers suffered major injuries, their vehicles were battered.

This incident comes just a few weeks after the traffic department blocked the signal, following mid-day's report on the stretch in its 'Killer Roads' series. In, 'Cops to shut Godrej signal at Vikhroli,' on September 8, mid-day had reported on the police's decision to shut the intersection and re-route traffic. But that move seems to have held up only for a few days, as the traffic police reopened the U-turn, once again posing a serious threat to the life of motorists.

The 'black spot' Godrej signal on EEH, where the incident occurred. Pics/Rajesh Gupta

On Sunday, Khar resident Mukesh Agarwal and Mulund resident Rajnish Gupta suffered on the 'black spot,' when their vehicles collided at the deadly signal. The accident occurred around 10:45 am. According to the police, Agarwal, 41, was heading towards Airoli, while Gupta, 30, was going home.

An officer from the Vikhroli police station said, "Agarwal's car was at the Ghoda Gate signal when Gupta's car sped towards it after he lost control of the vehicle. He dashed into Agarwal's car from behind, suffering minor injuries." Agarwal was reportedly not injured. But his car was severely damaged.

Rajnish Gupta

Gupta told mid-day, "I was returning from LTT after dropping my relative when this incident occurred. I was driving at 60 kmph, and saw the red car [Agarwal's] slowly crossing the signal. I got confused about the speed and dashed into him. The incident impacted my chest, but I am okay now." As of now, there is no word on what the traffic police has decided to do at the stretch to prevent such accidents from happening in the future.

Closing the killer signal
mid-day had reported on September 8 about the traffic police deciding to temporarily shut the signals and gaps in the median divider at the Ghoda and Soap gate junctions for two months. For 60 days, the department was supposed to keep an eye out for accidents, if any, and analyse them. This happened after mid-day's report on this spot, which has witnessed as many as 29 mishaps from 2017 till June 2018.

Also Read: Killer roads: Where riding takes a turn for the worse on JJ Flyover in Mumbai

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