Dashcam footage of truck that caused 48 vehicle pile-up on Bangalore-Pune highway out

On Sunday, an out-of-control truck rammed the traffic causing a pile-up of 48 vehicles on the Bangalore-Pune expressway. After the initial reports of the truck losing control on the expressway, police concluded that the truck driver had switched off the engine on the downhill to save fuel. It caused the truck’s brakes to fail and ram into the traffic that slowed down near the Navale bridge.

The footage came out recently and it is allegedly from the same day and shows the same truck going out of control. We cannot confirm or verify the authenticity of this dashboard camera footage. The footage is taken from a dashboard camera and the location is near the Navale bridge in Pune.

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In the video, we can see a truck coming at high-speed on the right-most lane of the expressway. It then hits a hatchback and then changes direction to the middle lane. Unable to slow down, the truck continues to hit other vehicles on the road to go ahead. If this is the same truck that caused the accident on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway, it clearly shows how it was speeding and could not slow down at all.

Trucks need running engines for effective brakes

Most trucks and heavy vehicles use Air Brakes. The air brakes make use of compressed air. The engine of the heavy vehicle is used to run a compressor that fills compressed air into the multiple tankers. This compressed air is later used to apply the brakes.

According to police, the trucker that rammed into other vehicles switched off the engine to save fuel on the downhill. Shutting off the engine means that the air compressor stopped working too. While most trucks do not have electronic power steering, they do use the engine power for the brakes.

Apart from the damaged vehicles, there was no loss of life. However, many people involved in the crash were injured. They were shifted to a local hospital. According to the officials, about six people were injured in the pile-up accident. The accident happened at around 8:30 PM and affected vehicles that were spread across 500 metres on the stretch.

Even power brakes are available with many old trucks in India. These use vacuum booster that works with engine’s intake manifold. Turning off the engine on a downhill can be dangerous, as we saw on Sunday.

Shortly after the accident, the truck driver fled the spot. However, the police have registered a case against the driver at Sinhgad Road Police station. The driver is identified as Maniram Chotelal Yadav from Madhya Pradesh. The has been registered under Sections 279, 337, 338, 427 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections 119/177, 134, 184 of the Motor Vehicle Act. The police have also formed teams to nab the truck driver.

This spot has become a hotspot for accidents and according to the authorities they have already taken a few steps to prevent accidents. However, more needs to be done to make this stretch safer.

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