The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Two-wheeler rider fatally knocked down

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 19, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Two-wheeler rider fatally knocked down

Staff Reporter

Errant drivers take the wrong direction

TAMBARAM: A 27-year-old youth was killed on the spot when his motorcycle was hit by a tanker on GST Road at St. Thomas Mount on Tuesday.

The Tambaram police said Balamurugan was returning to Nanganallur. While he approached the signal near the St. Thomas Mount post-office, he was hit by the lorry.

Despite the installation of a signal at this intersection, indiscipline reigns supreme at any time of the day. The signal is located at the intersection of the GST Road and a road adjacent to the Military Hospital. The most hazardous act of errant motorists is travelling in the wrong direction. Motorists from the Kathipara Junction bound for Tambaram are taken by surprise by a steady stream of vehicles coming in the opposite direction.

Most motorists who drive in the wrong direction are those on the way to reach the St. Thomas Mount post-office and the BSNL exchange. Government vehicles, auto-rickshaws and two-wheelers move along the road margins, posing a threat to pedestrians.

The errant motorists travelling in the wrong direction go up to the Asarkhana bus stop. Traffic policemen posted near the signal hardly take any step to check the offenders, say motorists.

They say if they are to reach the post office from Tambaram, they have to travel all the way till the Kathipara junction and take an `U' turn, while it was just a few metres from the signal.

Surprise checks

Activists, while welcoming the sudden checks on motorists at various places, have been urging the police to crack down on indiscipline and over-speeding. However, while the harassment in the name of surprise checks on motorists, particularly two-wheeler riders, has been continuing, there has been no attempt to curtail indiscipline, they regret.

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