Widening of Kalka-Shimla highway increased traffic and accidents

Himachal Pradesh: Accidents are happening frequently on the four-lane Kalka-Shimla National Highway in Solan district. In the latest incident, 30 passengers were injured, six of them seriously, when a bus of Uttarakhand depot overturned while trying to overtake another vehicle near Kandaghat last week. Earlier this week, four vehicles including two multi-axle trucks overturned on this highway near Solan. Data received from the police department shows that 142 accidents have occurred in Solan this year, most of them on the highway. 26 people lost their lives in these accidents while 240 people were injured. The accident severity of the district, which is a key indicator for monitoring road accidents, has recorded a steep increase in the last few years. It is a measure of the number of persons dying per 100 accidents. According to data received from the Transport Department, it increased from 28.4 percent in 2021 to 30.34 percent in 2022. Moreover, a comparison of data from 2019 to 2022 shows that Solan had a mortality rate of 58 per cent per lakh population, which was considered quite high. The widening of the highway to four lanes has led to a rapid increase in the number of vehicles, which is also increasing accidents. Highway traffic experts say, “Often a motorist gets excited to see a wide four-lane road after overcoming a traffic jam. To make up for the lost time, he drives at a high speed, which often leads to accidents.” He added that sharp turns also cause accidents when motorists driving at high speed try to overtake other vehicles and skid into the ditch. People often suffer serious injuries in such accidents.
The highway is designed to handle a speed of 60 kmph, with a safe limit of 40 kmph as per the Indian Road Congress’ code of conduct that governs road construction work. Solan SP Gaurav Singh says that the main reason behind accidents on the highway is speeding, but traffic rule violations such as driving on the wrong side to save fuel, drunk driving and using mobile phones while driving also contribute to accidents. He said that more accidents take place on the highway than on other roads in the district.