10 BIG dangers of India’s expressways nobody tells you about

Indian expressways form a very little of the total road coverage of the country. However, there are still numerous users taking the expressways regularly. Here are top ten dangers that an expressway user may face in India.

High-speed tyre bursts

All new expressways in India are mostly made up of concrete. Just because concrete has a longer life and lower maintenance than tarmac, many expressways use it. Concrete has higher friction than the tarmac when it is dry. The high friction increases the heat in the tyres resulting in bursts. If the tyre is in good condition, such incidents may not happen.

Sleeping on the wheel

Expressways are mostly straight roads without many turns. The users, especially the car drivers often feel quite bored while negotiating straight roads ahead. Such straight roads can cause the drivers to fall asleep. It is important to take regular breaks while on the expressway to overcome this.

Oil Spills

Oil spills can be quite dangerous on any kind of surface but it is extremely dangerous on the expressways because of the high-speed vehicles and concrete surface. Oil spills are caused by accidents, or leaking vehicles and are often undetectable. Expressway users, especially the bikers should be careful and watchful for any oil spills on the road surface and avoid it.

Stray animals

Most of the expressways go through secluded lands where wild animals are plentiful. Even though expressways are barricaded to bar entry of any such animals, there have been many cases of vehicles hitting stray animals. The problem becomes even worse at night when the visibility drops.

Fog

Fog is one of the greatest dangers on the expressways. Because most of the expressways go through open fields, they are more prone to the fog than the regular roads. The dense fog can suddenly come envelop the road to bring down the visibility dangerously.

Fast vehicles on the left lane

Lane discipline is something that is missing from almost all the spheres of roads in India. On expressways, it becomes quite dangerous. High-speed cars on the left lane can cause serious accidents as it the far away end of the driver and many car drivers do not tend to check mirrors regularly. Be aware of such high speed overtaking from the left-hand side of the vehicle.

Robberies

Expressways are not used by the local commuters and hence are quite secluded. Local people take advantage of the situation to lay traps and rob the passing vehicles. Usually, the expressways are not lit at night and robbers use various ways to stop the vehicles and loot them. Always be in a group of vehicles to avoid such situations.

Fuel pump scarcity

Fuel pumps are not very regular on the expressways. New expressways like Agra-Lucknow do not have fuel pumps at all and the commuters will have to get off the expressway to get fuel. Always get to know your way ahead and fill fuel before entering such controlled roads.

Locals entering from exits

The expressways cause a major hindrance for the locals who often take the shortcuts through the expressways. Such locals do not care about the entry or exit and try to enter the expressway through any route available – be it an exit or jumping through the barricade and fences. Always make sure that you are aware of your surroundings while on expressways.

Slow moving vehicles

Many expressways ban the entry of bikes because of their slow speed. However, many of the expressways allow them. Such bikes and other slow moving vehicles get on the high-speed lanes and can cause big accidents. It is difficult to determine the speed of such vehicles at high speed and it can cause gruesome incidents on the road.