Mohali road accident: Speeding Mercedes car claims 3 lives; driver arrested

Three people died while another three were injured after a speeding Mercedes hit a car and ran over two cyclists near the Radha Swami Satsang Chowk on the Airport Road in Mohali on Saturday. The driver of the car has been arrested by police. 

The deceased have been identified as Ram Prasad of Mataur, Ankush Narula of Zirakpur, and Dharampreet of Gholumajra village, while those injured are Pradeep Kumar, Shripal and Harish Kumar. While Ram Prasad was one of the cyclists, 22-year-old Dharampreet Singh, and 29-year-old Ankush Narula were sitting in the taxi which was hit by the Mercedes. 

The incident occurred at around 5 am on Saturday. The speeding Mercedes car, that was coming from Chandigarh, hit a Maruti Ertiga taxi and then rammed into a cycle. The airbags of the Mercedes inflated on impact due to which the three occupants were saved. The driver of the luxury car along with its two other occupants fled from the spot. The Police have registered a case and further investigation is underway. 

As per the police, the condition of the taxi driver Harish Kuma is currently critical and Ankush Narula who was sitting at the back of the taxi succumbed to his injuries at a private hospital.  
 

Decline in road accident deaths in Punjab in 2020

However, last month, Punjab saw a 15 percent decline in road accident fatalities and an 18 percent reduction in road mishaps in 2020 in comparison to 2019, government data showed. A total of 5,194 road accidents were registered in 2020, and 3,866 people lost their lives in the accidents, as per the data. Director-General of Police (DGP) Dinkar Gupta had said considering road safety as a major concern, Punjab Police has been leaving no stone unturned to make roads safer for commuters.

In a statement, the DGP had said that during the ongoing road safety month (January 18 to February 17, 2021), the Punjab Police organized 521 road safety camps and 542 road safety seminars, besides holding 152 awareness rallies across the state and sensitized around 1.33 lakh students from schools and colleges and 1.28 lakh citizens about the road safety and traffic rules. DGP Gupta had further said a pilot project, titled 'Accident Resolution Team-ART', was initiated in Patiala district under which teams led by station house officers visited and inspected the black spots in their respective jurisdictions.

Patiala Police has formulated 25 such ARTs and as many as 20 rectifications have already been realized, mostly on the Patiala-Sirhind road, resulting in a remarkable decline in the accident rate. A standard operating procedure (SOP) to prevent deaths due to stray animals has been formulated by the Punjab Police, and cattle accident black spots are also being identified, the DGP had said. 

(With Agency Inputs)