Tyre burst kills man on expressway

With this,the number of deaths on the expressway in mishaps has gone up to 18 this year. The expressway has seen close to 100 accidents,15 of them fatal,this year. Many of the accidents have been attributed to bursting of tyres,mainly due to speeding and “poor” quality tyres. Police officials said that of the total accidents,30 per cent are due to tyre-bursts and others due to rash driving.

“Tyre bursts get reported only when someone is hurt. Many cases where no one is injured go unreported.,” officials said.

The station duty officer at Lonavla police station said they got a call from the highway patrol about the accident. Patwardhan,who died on the spot,was a resident of Sinhagad Road area. Nilesh Suhalal Bafna (38) of Gangadham locality in Bibwewadi and Balbir Singh Batra (52) of Maharashtra Housing Board society in Yerawada were the injured. They were on their way to attend a function.

Prakash Nagesh,head constable,Lonavala rural police station,said,“We learnt that after the tyre of the rear wheel on the driver’s side burst,the car skid for over 100 metres,went off the expressway,overturned and hit a rock. Patwardhan was injured severely on the forehead and the car was badly damaged.”

Hospital sources said: “The condition of the injured is critical.” Patwardhan is survived by his wife,daughter and father. His cousin Ajit Kolhatkar said,“Makarand worked for a BPO.”

Toll Trail
200857 deaths in 50 accidents
200960 deaths in 52 accidents
2010 (so far)18 deaths in 15 accidents
Source: State Highway Police