The Indian government is actively developing road infrastructure across the country. New highways are being built while existing ones are being upgraded. However, complaints regarding the quality of construction and dangerous practices by concerned contractors are also on the rise. A recent video shared on Reddit shows a newly built concrete section on Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway getting a Maruti Dzire airborne!
Swift launched into air on Mumbai-Ahmedabad National Highway
byu/Ok-Importance-3095 inCarsIndia
The video has been shared with the hashtag ‘#DangerousDriving’. Watching it, however, would make us wonder if it is dangerous driving or a dangerous road that should be blamed in this case. The visuals show a patch on the highway that seems to have been built recently. It is essentially a raised concrete section on the regular highway. The visuals suggest it to be at least 2-3 inches raised from the tarmac. The intersection of the two isn’t smooth either.
So, vehicles would have to slow down heavily and come to a near halt to safely take this hump. There are, however, no warning lines anywhere nearby to make approaching vehicles cautious.
In the video, we see a speeding Maruti Dzire taking the raised intersection at a high speed. The impact makes the front end lift and gets it airborne for a few microseconds. The sedan then lands on its front axle, and is seen driving away.
Visuals suggest the impact to be sizeable and the same could have damaged its axle. The later part of the video also shows a Kia Carens approach and stop near the intersection before taking it on. This is proof of how raised it is.
The video is getting much attention and Redditors are going vocal about how the authorities and contractors have a laid-back approach to ensuring road safety in many states. One user commented “A white yellow stripes or a warning sign is what I look at. Gormint to laparvahi hai, pehle road/bridge, phir 3-4 week accident, phir sign lagayenge.
Multiple times in the last 5 years, I have noticed that they keep the unfinished bridge open, and a stupid car or bike would over-speed on it and fall.”
He has a valid point here. Many a time, we see the authorities ‘wait’ for people to be involved and accidents to happen before they act and do things they should have done in the very initial stages. Previously, an unmarked speed breaker in Gurgaon had made headlines by making luxury cars and SUVs jump! Videos of it went viral and people soon started talking about it.
It showed multiple vehicles- Fortuner, Mercedes Benz and BMW getting airborne after taking the speedbreaker without prior warnings. The landings should have damaged the luxury cars’ suspension setups. Even worse, a truck almost lost control due to the unmarked breaker. Timely reaction from its driver kept things under control.
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Soon after sources including us reported these incidents, and people started talking about it, the authorities acted and installed sign boards warning approaching vehicles about the speed breaker which was further marked with thermoplastic white paint for better and easier recognition.
GMDA has installed cautionary signboard as well as marked the newly laid speed breaker on Golf Course Road with thermoplastic white paint, to enhance night-time visibility & help motorists navigate the stretch safely. #RoadSafety #speedcalmingmeasures pic.twitter.com/45sgHineSa
— GMDA (@OfficialGMDA) October 29, 2024
We hope a similar approach/ action to come from the authorities in the case of this raised section as well. Union Minister Gadkari, recently said that quality compromises by contractors will be dealt with seriously by the government, and heavy fines and other punishments will be given to violators. We can thus hope for things to improve in the forthcoming time.
