Pune: Improved safety measures such as installation of CCTV and speed cameras , enforcement of lane discipline and seat belt compliance have contributed to a reduction in the number of fatal accidents on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway stretch between Kiwale and Amrutanjan point, the Highway Safety Patrol (HSP) has claimed. As many as 10 deaths in eight accidents on this stretch had been reported between Jan and July this year compared to 22 deaths in 16 accidents during the corresponding period last year, HSP officials said. Overall, there were 26 deaths in 23 accidents between Jan and Dec last year.
The installation of speed cameras has helped HSP authorities keep a tab on speeding and act against violators. The interceptor vehicles are kept strategically, and speeding vehicles are caught repeatedly. “We have found that motorists are following traffic rules on their own after taking the expressway,” said Lata Phad, superintendent of police, Pune HSP.
Now, the state govt has installed many new CCTV cameras at various locations on the expressway. “We hope that the new system will further reduce accidents," Phad said. “Our teams are deployed at the Kiwale entrance of the expressway and at the Urse toll plaza.
They keep on requesting people to wear seat belts and also impose fines on them,” she said. Deputy superintendent of police Gajanan Tompe told TOI that after the CCTV cameras were installed at 3 different locations on the expressway, the number of traffic violations .