Lack of Crash Barriers Claims Five Lives, Including Three Doctors at Agra-Lucknow Expressway
The Agra-Lucknow Expressway, one of the main highways of Uttar Pradesh, has once again been in the news for a tragic incident. On a recent Wednesday morning, five lives were lost in a horrific accident, including three young doctors. Their car jumped over the central divider and veered into the opposite lane, crashing into a truck. This sad incident has again raised the alarm on the lack of safety measures on the expressway, particularly the crash barriers.
It extends 302 kilometers of land, connecting Agra with Lucknow. Still, in light of the CRRI audit of road safety it was subjected to during the period between November 2018 and December 2019, the project raises some serious concerns due to some serious flaws the auditor had found in its design and infrastructure. Among these, the biggest concern was that the crash barriers were missing at various places along the central divider that could have actually stopped this accident from occurring.
While conducting the audit, CRRI also reported some more of the other flaws: like the inconsistency in height, and the retro-reflective markings missing from it. The height was a huge concern as the barriers found here were a significant below the prescribed height of 700mm which violated Indian Road Congress standards. The lack of visibility improvements, including reflective tapes on the barriers and parapets, enhances the risks of accidents, particularly during the night. In addition, the audit highlighted delay in repairing damaged crash barriers, which worsened the safety issues.
The report’s findings are alarming. According to available data, between November 2017 and February 2019, 1,517 people were injured on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway, with 118 fatalities. The delay in implementing safety measures, despite the CRRI’s recommendations, has led to many tragic incidents, like the recent one. Legal experts have also voiced concerns, with senior advocate KC Jain stating that the accident could have been avoided if crash barriers had been in place.
Unfortunately, the delayed steps from the authorities resulted in wastage of precious lives. The Yamuna Expressway is already equipped with the above features, but still the Agra-Lucknow Expressway is the danger zone. It's 2024 now and hence it's high time UPEDA should take stringent action so that such untimely tragedies do not take place in the near future.
