Pune: 39-Yr-Old Man Dies After Trying To Avoid A Pothole, Gets Rammed By Truck

A 39-year-old software engineer, Sushil Maharaj Pandita, was run over by a truck near the passport office in Mundhwa on Saturday, July 28, after he lost balance on his two-wheeler while trying to avoid a pothole. He was taken to a private hospital in Koregaon Park in an autorickshaw, where he was declared brought dead.

According to police, the accident took place around 6:30 pm near the Adigutta chowk when Pandita was returning home after shopping. After noticing the pothole ahead of him, he applied the brakes to his scooter suddenly. This may have caused him to skid and fall. It is also reported that the deceased was not wearing a helmet.

A witness, identified as Ankush Bhusnar, informed the police that Pandita was trying to overtake the tempo from the left when he fell.

“There is a pothole a few metres ahead of the spot where Pandita fell. We suspect that while trying to overtake the tempo, he may have noticed the pothole and applied the brakes. Due to the rubble on the road, his scooter may have skidded,” said Rejitwad, reported The Times of India.

Meanwhile, the truck driver, 30-years-old Subhash Daulat Mairale, a resident of Chikhali has been arrested under section 304-A (causing death due to negligence) of the Indian Penal Code.

A few days ago, a 20-year-old woman lost her life when she was rammed by a truck after falling from her scooter which was stuck in a pothole.

Pothole Menace In India

According to a report on India Today, pothole-ridden roads have claimed as many as 9300 lives and have caused injuries to over 25000 people across the country in the last three years.

The number of fatalities caused due to potholes increased from 2,607 in 2013 to 3,039 in 2014 and 3,416 in 2015. The figure dipped to 2,324 in 2016. However, in 2017, potholes took a deadly toll of up to 3597 deaths- more than 50% rise from 2016.

On July 20, the Supreme Court termed the increasing number of pothole deaths “frightening”. The SC bench said, “So many people are dying in the country due to accidents caused by potholes on roads. Reports say that more people have died due to accident caused by potholes than the deaths in terrorist attacks”. They further said that it was “common knowledge” that many deaths have occurred due to potholes and authorities who were supposed to do their job of maintaining roads were not doing so.

Also, read: Pothole-Free Roads And Good Footpaths Are A Fundamental Right Of Citizens: Bombay HC

Also published on Medium.