[sukhoi30]

Originally Posted by mayuresh

Noted businessman and builder D S Kulkarni met with an accident near Khandala on eway. His driver was dead on the spot. The accident happened due to a container crossing over the divider and hitting their car.

DSK got serious injuries but is reportedly out of danger.

Last Saturday another container truck overturned causing massive traffic JAM on the so called "expressway". And believe it or not, it happened at exactly the same spot where the above accident had happened. Luckily, this time it was not fatal.

http://www.mid-day.com/articles/truc...affic/17281188

I don't know where goes all the toll I pay to use this road. But with each passing month, I am beginning to feel that I am traversing a road where either death happened and it is just lurking round the corner.

Apart from that, there is this inconvenience of traffic jams, long waiting time at the toll booths, recklessly overtaking vehicles, over speeding heavy vehicles and so on and so forth. I was stuck in long traffic jams at least twice in as many months.

Authorities doesn't seem to be doing anything to identify and fix problems. Instead, each accident is being blamed on driver fault alone. Once in a while they wake up and do some drives where some unfortunate people are caught and fined, but then everything becomes as usual. There is no long term solution or strategy to control the traffic and reduce accidents.

I have been using this expressway for the last 8 years, but recently, I am getting more and more scared to use it. I am sure many here have similar thoughts. Not sure what will be the best recourse to rectify this situation.

[luvDriving]

Just read that starting August 1st, all entry points to Mumbai will be toll-free for LMVs.

Is this really true ? So the expressway can be one stop-free ride !

[noopster]

Originally Posted by luvDriving

Just read that starting August 1st, all entry points to Mumbai will be toll-free for LMVs.

Is this really true ? So the expressway can be one stop-free ride !

Sorry to burst your bubble but the Mumbai Pune expressway is not an entry point into Mumbai

This refers to the entry points from Thane/Navi Mumbai into Mumbai city limits: Vashi, Thane, Dahisar and Airoli. The toll is 35/-one way and there is a rumour that this may be revoked.

[ShaileshHinge]

Originally Posted by luvDriving

Just read that starting August 1st, all entry points to Mumbai will be toll-free for LMVs.

Is this really true ? So the expressway can be one stop-free ride !

The news paper article being circulated on social media is a 2015 article . I wish this is really implemented. But its a lot of money which the toll contractor may not do away with !

[centaur]

I used the expressway again last sunday and was appalled to see that there is absolutely nothing done by concerned officials. Plenty of two wheelers (including helmetless riders on activas) were riding merrily without even realizing the potential danger they were in. Some took it to the next level and were driving on the wrong side, again without any helmets. The article quoted below speaks some of the other points and also there are lot of people (students??) asking for lift near Sinhgad College, Lonavala and they throw caution to the winds while doing so because they so casually cross over to the other side without worrying about the speeding vehicles.

Originally Posted by dkhatau

http://moneylife.in/article/mumbai-p...ing/31057.html

Another interesting article on expressway.

Truck drivers dont have absolutely any traffic sense and this was seen multiple times. There are no indicators being given while changing lanes. Two trucks were one behind the other in the middle lane and so I decided to overtake them. I shifted on to the rightmost lane and started increasing my speed when suddenly the second truck pull over to the right most lane without giving even the slightest hint then he would be doing so. Braked hard to avoid a collision and managed to stop inches behind the truck. Thanks to this, I was very careful on the way ahead and the return leg of the journey too.

Infact I just passed from a accident spot (accident link)minutes before it happened.

Amrutanjan bridge was chock-a-block for almost a kilometer enroute Pune - thanks to the trucks occupying all three lanes. Best part is that it is at this very spot that most truckers suddenly decide to stop right in the middle of the lane and adding to that mostly, it will be 2 trucks who have stopped in adjacent lanes which now are not able to pull and start moving. The drivers were trying their best but all that was happening was that the trailer cabin would pop a small wheelie and still be at the same place.

Overloaded cars are a given at any point in time and people dont really realize the risk in doing so. Its high time cops started fining overloaded vehicles and even suspend licenses/permits of the vehicles and drivers involved.

There are lot of breaks in the medians where vehicles could pass over to the other side and it has increased a lot than before. Probably they are waiting for something major or something involving someone important to happen before they plug these gaps.

[sukhoi30]

Originally Posted by centaur

Truck drivers dont have absolutely any traffic sense and this was seen multiple times. There are no indicators being given while changing lanes. Two trucks were one behind the other in the middle lane and so I decided to overtake them. I shifted on to the rightmost lane and started increasing my speed when suddenly the second truck pull over to the right most lane without giving even the slightest hint then he would be doing so. Braked hard to avoid a collision and managed to stop inches behind the truck. Thanks to this, I was very careful on the way ahead and the return leg of the journey too.

Yes, this is how they change lanes. Basically these truck drivers don;t know how to change lanes on an expressway. They look at their OVRM and if they find the car a bit far, they will suddenly turn. I have found many trucks doing this. Now whenever I am passing any truck, I start honking before "passing" them. I found that three or four long honks will indicate to them that we are going to overtake.

Truck drivers take honking more seriously than dippers or any other signals.

[AutoIndian]

Major pile up on Mumbai Pune side of the ghat, some major accident overnight which claimed couple of lives. Some pics taken by my co passenger.

[freedom]

Another fatality on the Expressway
http://auto.economictimes.indiatimes...crash/53146574

On my way back to Pune yesterday afternoon, I saw that a BMW car that had hit the median. The driver door was open and there was no damage to the side/rear end of the car. It was raining so I couldn't get a clear view of the number etc.

It was around 4 pm and to me it seemed like it was a "recent" accident. I immediately called the control room +919833498334 and reported the exact spot (A few hundred meters before Malavali bridge when heading towards Pune). I told them its a navy blue BMW. They said that ambulance/ Highway Patrol have already attended to the spot. They thanked me for reporting the incident ! I too thanked them.

It was raining like crazy yesterday and I still saw crazy zig-zag and rash driving on the expressway!

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by freedom

Another fatality on the Expressway
http://auto.economictimes.indiatimes...crash/53146574

On my way back to Pune yesterday afternoon, I saw that a BMW car that had hit the median. The driver door was open and there was no damage to the side/rear end of the car. It was raining so I couldn't get a clear view of the number etc.

It was around 4 pm and to me it seemed like it was a "recent" accident. I immediately called the control room +919833498334 and reported the exact spot (A few hundred meters before Malavali bridge when heading towards Pune). I told them its a navy blue BMW. They said that ambulance/ Highway Patrol have already attended to the spot. They thanked me for reporting the incident ! I too thanked them.

It was raining like crazy yesterday and I still saw crazy zig-zag and rash driving on the expressway!

You are right. You probably saw the accident prone car of the senior Bajaj Auto executive, Amrut Kumar Rath, and his wife who died in a car crash on the Pune-Mumbai expressway on Sunday. Their kids suffered serious injuries, doctors say their condition is stable. The family were returning to Pune when Rath apparently lost control over the vehicle. Full news over here -->

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...w/53145836.cms

PUNE: Amrut Kumar Rath, a top-level manager working with two-wheeler major Bajaj Auto, and his wife were killed while their two children suffered serious injuries after their car hit the median of the Pune-Mumbai expressway at Malavli, around 60km from Pune, on Sunday afternoon. The family was returning to Pune from Mumbai when the accident happened.

The Highway Safety Patrol (HSP), Pune, and Lonavla police rushed the family to Lokmanya Hospital in Nigdi, where Rath (47) and his wife Padmaja (45) breathed their last under medical attention at 1PM. Their daughter Adisha (18) and son Alman (10) have been admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of the hospital.

Police inspector Shankar Awatade of the Nigdi police station told TOI that Rath was the president (human resources) at Bajaj Auto Limited. The family resides at Wakad. Both Adisha and Alman are studying in the city. Awatade said the family had gone to Mumbai in their BMW car early in the morning to drop off Rath's sister. They were returning to Pune when Rath apparently lost control over the vehicle. The police said that while it had rained heavily in the area in the morning, there was only a slight drizzle at the time of the accident.

Late in the evening, the Nigdi police sent the bodies for a post-mortem to Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital. Doctors at Lokmanya Hospital said Adisha and Alman sustained joint dislocation and fractures in the accident. "Adisha suffered a hip dislocation and pelvic injuries. The hip dislocation has been immediately taken care of. Though she is still in the ICU, her condition is stable. Alman has sustained abdominal trauma and has fractured his right femur (thigh) bone. His condition is critical but stable. Both children were conscious-oriented at the time of admission," the doctors said.

[rakesh_r]

The Mumbai Pune Eway has become a real pain to drive on . Every time I drive, it's either have a narrow miss or I witness an accident, the recent one being a truck hogging on the rightmost lane suffers a tyre burst sways towards the right and breaks the concrete barrier hereby strewing all the debris onto the carriageway. Lady luck being on my side, managed to get away by a whisker.

[kutoos]

As a regular user of the e-way, these days i shudder to think of travelling on this death trap. This has become so intense that these days i've started taking the train to reach Mumbai.

I've seen the explosion of traffic on the e-way and the infrastructure is now severely challenged. But what appalls me is that once people enter the e-way, all rules and sense of responsibility disappear. It's like everyone has found his/her own private race track and gun their vehicles with impunity.

Lots of members have criticized the Highway department for lack of policing, but I differ in this opinion. We are all educated and responsible citizen, so why do you need policing? We are loath to follow traffic rules as everyone has this sense of entitlement and the overconfidence that nothing will happen to me.

So to cut the rant short, unless we as drivers make a concerted effort to follow the rules and be courteous to fellow travelers, the press is going to make a hay day reporting traffic jams and fatal crashes.

As the board says, Drive safe, Its better to be Mr. Late rather than Late Mr.....

Cheers

[pixantz]

Originally Posted by kutoos

. We are all educated and responsible citizen, so why do you need policing?

You are forgetting the most important point sir. We are Indian! That beats all education, responsibility and any other sane justification hands down. Any day, any time. Its our unique trait which separates us from all species. Unless we are going to acknowledge this fact and act towards correcting and upgrading ourselves, there is very less hope or scope for glory.

[khoj]

Why just Indians?
The World over Race, Upbringing, Education, Career, Success, Wealth, Power, Status in Life, Inheritance etc have nothing in common with common sense

Originally Posted by pixantz

You are forgetting the most important point sir. We are Indian! That beats all education, responsibility and any other sane justification hands down.

[sukhoi30]

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/mumbai/o...w/53516037.cms

Now, that will be a relief if it happens... . . If not toll free, at least reduce toll rate. Given the kind of maintenance and the traffic woes on the expressway the toll rate doesn't seem justified.

[vivek95]

''Golden hours'' for passenger vehicles introduced on Mumbai--Pune Expressway on experimental basis

The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) and the Express Authorities have launched "golden hours" for passenger vehicles, which began on this Friday i.e. September 9. During these hours, passenger cars as well as buses will have no multi-axle trucks plying on the expressway.

Read more here - http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/m.../1/761545.html

+++++++++++

Update as on Monday - '' Expressway experiment to avoid jam proves useful "

About 200 trucks and trailers were stopped at Urse toll post and Kusgaon, both having parking space. No loaded vehicle was allowed to hit the expressway in those three hours.
The Highway Safety Patrol (HSP), Pune, authorities termed the experiment successful. So did the additional director-general of police (traffic) R K Padmanabhan. "The Monday morning's experiment has been successful because no traffic congestions were witnessed."

Source - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...w/54302812.cms