Cyrus Mistry accident: The driver was not at fault, say experts

The National Highways Authority of India NHAI seems unwilling to learn any lessons even after industrialist Cyrus Mistry died because of the faulty design of the Surya river bridge earlier this month which remains unchanged till date Despite flak from all quarters NHAI has only installed a cautionary lsquoGo Slowrsquo sign exactly 102 metres before the spot Experts say no driver can bring vehicle to a stop after reading the sign as the distance is too shortExperts have added that as the lane becomes narrow drivers are not left with enough room to drift to either left and right at the last moment and end up hitting the bridge parapetThey have pointed fingers at NHAI for failing to take measures to ensure that the stretch is safe for motorists ldquoNHAI has failed to put any advance cautionary sign boards informing motorists about the narrowing of the three lanes to two lanes By the time a driver learns about it it is too laterdquo Harbans Singh Nanade spokesperson of All India Vahan Chalak Malak Mahasangha told middayAlso read Mumbai Cyrus Mistrys copassenger Dr Anahita Pandole undergoes major surgeryThe signs installed ahead of the blackspot near Surya river bridge on the MumbaiAhmedabad Highway PicsHanif PatelPolice officers told midday that the width of the road where the lsquoGo Slowrsquo sign has been installed is 105 metremdashwhich means there are 3 lanes of 35m width And the third lane gets narrower and merges with the middle lane exactly at the Lshaped structure of the faulty river bridge where the Mercedes carrying Mistry crashed The width of the road at this spot is 7 metres meaning two lanesDrivers left confusedGiving an example of how this spot has become a death trap Nanade said ldquoIn case there are three vehicles occupying the three lanes on the Mumbaibound highway after Charoti flyover the drivers on the extreme right and middle lane are safer But the one driving on the left lane suddenly sees the lane narrowing By the time the driver figures out how to join the middle lane the vehicle comes extremely close to the blackspot and to the bridge parapetrdquoLocal sources told midday that they often hear the noise of screeching halts of vehicles near this area ldquoas the narrow lane often leaves drivers confusedrdquoThe twolane bridge that motorists encounter after driving on a 3lane roadldquoWe always rush to the spot whenever we hear the screeching halt of vehicles as many drivers lose control of their vehicles at the spot where Mistry died Sometimes motorists get into heated arguments with other motorists and eventually go away with minor dents on their vehiclesrdquo said a source requesting anonymityVisibility of road signsNanade said ldquoLegibility and visibility of road signs play a vital role in averting accidents But as the lsquoGo Slowrsquo board is just 102 metres ahead of the blackspot the driver sees this after getting in the death traprdquoldquoThe authority must inform road users well in advance that the three lanes are getting narrower and the font size must be legible and properly visible In addition there is no mention of any speed limitrdquo he addedThe entry ramp of the bridge The car Cyrus Mistry was travelling in hit a parapet on this overpassCiting that NHAI has also installed a small sign that means lsquonarrow bridgersquo he said ldquoBut why have they failed to tell road users that the lane is getting narrower Also NHAI is yet to put rumble strips before the start of this death traprdquoCrash barrier missingMentioning that there is a mandatory provision to install a metal beam crash barrier at every river bridge on the highway Nanade pointed at the absence of one ahead of Surya river bridgeAccording to the guidelines for traffic safety barriers issued by Indian Roads Congress in 2015 ldquoTraffic safety barriers also known as crash barriers are provided on highspeed highways to prevent accidents when vehicles lose control and run off the road especially dangerous are road sections with sharp curves approaches to bridges with restricted roadway high embankments hazardous obstacles such as poles trees and bridge structural elementsrdquoPraveenchandra Shetty author of an observational research book on advanced road safety told midday ldquoCrash barriers do not prevent accidents but reduce the intensity of the impact and severity of injuries and number of deathsrdquoWhat NHAI should have doneShetty further highlighted five aspects that require advance attention at the blackspot including proper signage rumble strips ensuring there are no bumps near the rampsldquoAs three lanes are narrowing down to two at the spot NHAI officials should have installed a signage of narrow road at least 150ft ahead of it so motorists have time to decelerate their vehiclesrdquo Shetty told midday adding ldquoCluster rumble strips should be replaced with those with 5 mm thicknessrdquoHe also added that entry and exit ramps of bridges flyovers and culverts should be free of undulation and bumps but none of the bridges and flyovers in the country follow are free of this defectShetty further said ldquoA defective expansion joint is a common defect on every bridge and flyover in India and there needs to be improvement to the basic design He also mentioned that a onemetre wide footpath on both sides of the bridge should also be part of standard designlsquoNo time to brakersquoIn a bid to check if a vehicle has enough time to halt completely after reading the lsquoGo Slowrsquo sign midday spoke with automobile experts who said that vehicle similar to the Mercedes carrying Mistry if running at a speed of 100 kmph can come to a stop in a range of 365 metre in 27 secondsThe expert added that in Mistryrsquos case the driver did not get the chance to apply brake due to the bad road design which led to the fatal road crashNitin Dossa chairman of Western India Automobile Association which conducted speed tests on all types of vehicles said ldquoAll car tests were done in 2022 at Palghar and Kharghar area The police are taking the help of automobile experts including us to investigate this matter My team is working on it and will submit the report to the cops in a few daysrdquoldquoWe found that it is the negligence of NHAI which turned this into a blackspot Due to the sudden narrowing of the road the driver did not get a chance to apply breaks As per our probe so far the driver was not at fault but it is the fault of NHAI and the engineerrdquo he added102mDistance between the lsquoGo Slowrsquo sign and blackspot35mWidth of one lane