Initial investigation into the accident near Marikavalasa Junction on the outskirts of the city on Monday indicates that it was due to the SUV coming on the wrong side of NH-16 and over speeding of the APSRTC bus.

The SUV, coming from the IT SEZ at Madhurawada, took the wrong side of the service road and tried to get onto the Visakhapatnam – Vizianagaram NH by crossing the Vizianagaram- Visakhapatnam NH.

This confused the driver of the bus coming from Vizianagaram to Visakhapatnam.

This is the biggest road accident in the city in the last few years.

According to ADCP (Traffic) Mahendra Patrudu, negligent driving, such as over speeding and driving on the wrong route, is the major cause.

“People try to cut corners by driving on the wrong side to get onto the main highway, instead of taking a U-turn. About 20 per cent of the accidents on the NH are due to this reason,” he said. Moreover, the accident would have been averted had the bus driver wasn’t over speeding.

“Marikavalasa is a major junction and all vehicles should slow down at the place. But this did not happen in this case. The driver lost control of the bus after sighting the SUV,” said ACP (Traffic) K. Prabhakar.

Madhurawada ACP (Traffic) Srinivasa Rao said that motorists from the ITSEZ side do not take a U-turn and prefer the wrong route.

Road engineering

“We are exploring the possibility of closing the opening as part of road engineering,” he said.

Road engineering has brought down fatalities. In 2014, the number of fatal accidents was 325, compared to 378 in 2013. When it comes to the number of deaths due to road accident, it was 338 in 2014 and 414 in 2013.

Marikavalasa is a major junction and all vehicles should slow down at this place. But this did not happen in this case. The driver lost control of the bus after sighting the SUV.

K. Prabhakar

ACP (Traffic)