Thiruvananthapuram: Two persons died and two others of the same family were injured when a car carrying them crashed into a stationary truck near Parassala on Tuesday. The deceased were identified as Balasubramanian, 53, and his mother Parvati, 88, both residents of Karamana police station road. The injured were identified as Chitra, 44, and Krishanmoorthi, 21, who were identified as the wife and son of the deceased man. The family was proceeding to the capital after a visit to their native place Sivakasi.
Balasubramanian owns a fireworks factory at Sivakasi. Parassla police said that the Maruti Zen car was being driven by Krishnamoorthy, a B.com student, when the mishap happened. He suddenly swerved the car to the left after being blinded by another oncoming vehicle. As a result, he crashed into a cement-laden truck. Mr Balasubramanian and his mother who were seated on the left side of the car were killed on the spot. The injured were admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of the Medical College in a critical condition, police said.
Parvati
Illegal parking on highways turns fatal
The haphazard parking by trucks close to the carriageway becomes fatal for drivers of smaller vehicles, especially two-wheeler riders who fall victim to rear-end collisions. The Kerala high court order had banned parking of trucks beside the carriageway on all state and national highways barring near checkposts. The state was directed to create separate lorry parks along highways and the peripheries of road as highways were not designed for truck parking. However, the police and transport department shy away from enforcing norms.
Apart from the death of two family members at Idichakkaplamoodu on Tuesday morning, several two-wheeler mishaps have occurred due to heavy vehicles being parked at areas such as Kazhakoottam, Vazhimukku, Attingal etc. In August this year, a two-wheeler rider was killed after crashing into the rear of a truck that had been stopped by highway police for checking. “As per norms, red colour Retro Reflective High Intensity grade stickers should be fixed on the rear of the truck, yellow on the sides and white on the front. However, most trucks do not fix these cheap stickers. Heavy vehicles often do not undergo tests,” the expert said.
