Truck hit multiple vehicles after driver switched off engine on slope: Police

The driver of the truck which hit several vehicles on MumbaiBengaluru highway in Maharashtras Pune district and caused a pileup had apparently switched off its engine on a bridge slope resulting in the accident a police official said on MondaySwitching off the engine affects the vehicles braking ability and this possibly resulted in the truck hitting other vehicles on the bridge slope on Sunday as per a probe being conducted into the accident by the Regional Transport Office RTO he saidAt least 24 vehicles were damaged late Sunday evening after the truck lost control on the downward slope of Navale bridge on the MumbaiBengaluru highway in PuneMore than 20 people suffered injuries in the accident and eight of them were hospitalised an official saidA case was registered against the absconding truck driver identified as Maniram Yadav under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Motor Vehicles ActThe driver fled from the spot after the accident and efforts were on to trace him police saidAssistant Commissioner of Police Sunil Pawar said The probe by the RTO indicates that the truck driver might have switched off the engine by turning off the ignition while on the slope If the engine is switched off it affects the vehicles braking ability That is how the truck might have gone hitting the vehicles on the slopeThe truck was from Tamil Nadu and was heavily loaded with some goods he saidAlso Read Truck hits at least 30 vehicles on slope of Pune bridge some injuredA man whose car was damaged in the accident had said the speeding truck first rammed into some of the vehicles on the road which inturn hit some other vehicles leading to the pileupOur car was also hit We were four people in the vehicle and fortunately nothing happened to us as the airbags opened but we saw that several vehicles around us on the road were badly hit he saidNationalist Congress Party NCP leader Supriya Sule who is the Lok Sabha member from Baramati in Pune district visited the accident spot on MondaySule in a tweet said she spoke to officials of the Pune Municipal Corporation PMC police and the National Highway Authority of IndiaThey all will visit the spot to assess it and taking that report we will meet Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari and discuss what measures can be taken to make this road accident free she tweetedIt is necessary to make the Road Safety Act more effective she saidCitizens also need to follow all the traffic rules If there are service roads good footpaths and traffic rules are followed it will definitely help reduce the accidents Sule tweetedShe said it is necessary for the PMC to make a service road at this place the accident spot but it has not been doneAt the same time it is also necessary to take measures to reduce the slope at the spot with the help of experts she saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever