Journalism of Courage
The probe into the major accident on Pune’s Navale Bridge on Sunday night revealed that the truck which went on to hit several vehicles did not have a brake failure, the police said following an assessment by Regional Transport Office (RTO) officials Monday morning. The driver turned off the ignition on a downward gradient slope and drove on neutral gear to save fuel but could not apply brakes later, the police added.
The police have launched a search for the driver, identified as Maniram Chhotelal Yadav from Madhya Pradesh, who fled from the scene after the accident. They also booked him under provisions of Motor Vehicles Act and Indian Penal Code.
The accident took place around 8.30 pm on the Katraj-Dehu road bypass of the Mumbai-Bengaluru highway when the truck went out of the driver’s control and hit at least 48 vehicles, 24 of which were badly damaged. Around 20 persons were injured and six of them were hospitalised while others required administration of first aid.
The police had initially said that the accident might have been caused by a brake failure.
Assistant commissioner of police (Sinhagad road division) Sunil Pawar said, “The examination by RTO officials has revealed that there was, in fact, no brake failure. Prima facie it seems that the driver had turned off the ignition and had applied neutral gear on the downward gradient to save fuel and later could not apply the brakes at the vehicle’s gathered speed.”
