Priyanka Kumari Poonia, a 26-year-old banker, lost her life after a fatal fall from her brother’s motorcycle and being run over by a truck, triggered by a pothole-ridden road near Huskur in Bengaluru.
Occurring during a Friday morning commute, the tragedy has brought fresh scrutiny to the city’s worsening road infrastructure and recurring pattern of preventable accidents.
A Crash Born of Negligence
The sequence began when Naresh Kumar Poonia, transporting his sister to her workplace, braked suddenly to avoid a slowing car ahead, whose driver reacted sharply to yet another pothole. Both siblings lost balance, and Priyanka, unhelmeted, fell directly into the path of a truck that could not halt in time.
“As usual, I used to leave my sister at the Madavara Metro Station every day. I don’t know what happened yesterday. A car in front of us stopped due to a pothole in the road. I had to brake (my motorcycle) and I was not able to comprehend what to do there. My sister (Priyanka) died on the spot,” Naresh said in a statement to NDTV.
The Rising Toll of Urban Chaos
Priyanka’s case is emblematic of a wider crisis: Bengaluru saw 3,105 road accidents from January to August 2025, according to Traffic Police data, with 539 resulting in fatal cases and 558 lives lost. The city, now ranked among India’s most dangerous urban zones for road users, recorded over 877 road fatalities in the previous year, accounting for nearly 6% of all metro city traffic deaths nationwide.
Pedestrians and two-wheeler riders remain most at risk, with Bengaluru topping the list in pedestrian deaths: in 2023, 292 pedestrians died, almost 10% of such fatalities across 53 Indian cities. Police attribute the alarming numbers to speeding, reckless overtaking, poor road design, an exploding vehicle population, and a chronic lack of pedestrian protection.
Recent initiatives aim to improve road safety across Bengaluru, including a $128 million investment in sustainable road projects and the Suraksha75 programme which redesigned over 100 dangerous intersections. The Greater Bengaluru Authority has also launched a plan to upgrade 100 critical roads, focusing on durability, footpaths, drainage, and citizen involvement. City officials hope these measures will significantly enhance safety for vulnerable road users, reduce accidents, and create safer journeys for everyone.
Barriers to Justice and Lasting Solutions
Experts point to deeper failures beyond infrastructure, too. Despite thousands of deadly crashes in the past four years, conviction rates for fatal road accidents hover at just 7% in Bengaluru, a result of weak evidence, missing witnesses, and out-of-court settlements.
Citizens and activists call for sustained road safety campaigns, rigorous enforcement, and structural redesigns, such as speed-calming measures and improved signage, to make streets reliably safer. Police, for their part, have ramped up traffic enforcement and begun leveraging CCTV and technology for better evidence, yet challenges persist.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
Every preventable death is a reminder of the collective responsibility to uphold safety, empathy, and civic accountability. The tragedy of Priyanka’s loss makes it urgent for Bengaluru and its residents to transform frustration into positive action.
Concerted efforts, from civic agencies, law enforcement, and citizens, must focus on not just repairing potholes, but reshaping mindsets around discipline, vigilance, and compassion on our roads.
