Hyderabad: A group of experts trained in road safety have volunteered to inspect accident sites in order to carry out a “crash investigation”, something that should be done by the police. The purpose of the investigation is to help the families of the victims understand the reason behind the accident.
After a major accident, the team visits the site, talks to people nearby, collects the FIR and investigates the road, vehicles etc to understand what caused the accident.
The group activated itself after the Ramya accident earlier this year in which three generations from one family died at Nagarjuna circle.
The team’s investigations at Medchal, Tupran, ECIL and LV Prasad Eye Hospital were helped the police greatly.
Mr Dheerendra Samineni, a road safety engineer and team member, said, “Crash investigation is carried out in order to determine the cause or causes of an accident or series of accidents and is intended to prevent further incidents of a similar kind.”
Infographics
Case study 1
March 5, 2016
The team investigated a fatal road accident near Kukatpally Y-Junction. It involved a two-wheeler that was trying to overtake a truck and was hit by a car coming from the opposite direction. The two-wheeler rider came under the rear wheels of the truck.
Contributing factors
The truck did not see or anticipate the movements of the two-wheeler as it was dark and also because of the glare from headlights.
Observations
The two-wheeler should have waited for space to overtake. The truck driver had to be more cautious as one lane was closed for Metro works.
There were no traffic controllers. The surface of the road was uneven.
Case study 2
In May, the team investigated a fatal road accident at Bowrampet, Bachupally. It involved a two-wheeler running into a transport vehicle. The probable cause was the truck driver’s inability to see the movements of the two-wheeler rider which was negotiating bad road conditions.
