Place where Cyrus Mistry’s car crashed is an accident blackspot

Cyrus Mistry former chairman of Tata Sons and another person died on the spot when their Mercedes crashed into the divider on the MumbaiAhmedabad Highway on Sunday Traffic police officers told midday the location is infamous for serious accidents many of which led to deaths The accident blackspot lacks any warning signs for the motorists said officers Travelling at night is even deadlier with most street lights out of orderMistry was travelling from Gujarat to Mumbai when the accident happened just 1 km ahead of Charoti toll plaza At this point on the flyover built over Surya river the threelane highway merges to become twoAlso read Cyrus Mistry death Mumbai gynaecologist was driving car say copsThe spot where the accident happened on NH48 the MumbaiAhmedabad highway on Sunday afternoonSources in the traffic police department told midday that many people have lost their lives or limb or have been bedridden permanently after meeting with an accident at this black spotldquoMany motorists lose balance skid off the flyover and fall into the river It happens as the three lanes coming from Gujarat narrow down to two lanes on the flyover And if a speeding truck or car overtakes another vehicle just ahead of the flyover the car is bound to veer towards the left causing it to hit the divider leading to a fatal road crashrdquo said a traffic police officer requesting anonymityNone of the street lamps in the area of the accident are switched on making driving in the night time a very dangerous propositionOfficers also told midday that there is no CCTV camera near the accident area Moreover despite being an accidentprone spot there is no signboard to warn motorists of the dangersOn Sundayrsquos accident the officer said ldquoThough itrsquos a matter of indepth investigation and it would not be wise to comment at present I suspect some vehicles might have either tried to overtake Cyrus Mistryrsquos car forcing the driver towards left Or the driver might have lost balance while suddenly entering the twolane roadrdquoThe crushed remains of Cyrus Mistryrsquos car PicsHanif PatelThe officer said that the left side of Mercedes car is ldquofully damaged as it hit the divider on the flyover The airbags inflated but the passengers on the rear seat could not surviverdquoAll senior police officers as well as medical staff of Palghar district rushed to the spot after the accident around 330pm The state government has ordered a highlevel probe in the matter said a source in MantralayaSuperintendent of Police Palghar Balasaheb Patil told midday that Mistry and Jehangir Pandole who were in the rear seat died on the spot ldquoAnahita Pandole eminent gynaecologist was driving the car and her husband Darius Pandole was in the codriverrsquos seat They sustained injuries Prima facie it seems that the driver lost her judgementrdquoReplying to a query Patil said whether the car was speeding is under investigationPalghar districtrsquos Civil Surgeon Dr Sanjay Bodade said ldquoFour people were brought to Kasa hospital around 350 pm Mistry and Jehangir were brought dead Prima facie it appeared that Mistry sustained very serious head injuries and bled through his ears Jehangir also had head injuries We suspect that he might have also had internal injuriesrdquoldquoAnahita has fractured her left leg while Dariusrsquos cheekbone was broken Both the injured have been referred to Rainbow hospital in Vapi for further treatmentrdquo Bodade addedWhen asked if the deceasedrsquos postmortem will be conducted in Palghar or at J J hospital Bodade said ldquoIt is subject to the willingness of their relativesrdquoDr Tejas Shah of Rainbow hospital told midday ldquoBoth the patients Anahita and Darius have suffered multiple injuries to the rib and jaw along with other fractures We are stabilising the patients Currently they are in the ICU Doctors from Reliance hospital are also on the wayrdquoWith inputs from Suraj PandeyThe 52km stretch riddled with blackspotsSources in the traffic police department said there are multiple accident spots on a 52km stretch between Manor in Palghar district of Maharashtra and Achad in Gujarat on the highway In the past 18 months 106 people have died and 49 left permanently bedridden in around 100 accidents on the stretch said an officer ldquoThe roads are serpentine and the lush green in the surroundings often tempt drivers to speed which lead to accidentsrdquo the officer added ldquoThere are no working street lights on the MumbaiAhmedabad Highway vehicles turn on their high beam lights adversely affecting the drivers coming from the opposite direction leading to fatal crashesrdquo