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Around 35 vehicles were involved in a major accident on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway on Sunday morning. Foggy conditions in the morning hours is blamed for reducing visibility on the expressway which led to the accident which resulted in injuries to 10 persons although no fatalities were reported.
Officials say visibility dipped to as low as 50 meters on the expressway which resulted in challenging driving conditions. While traffic movement was slow, the pileup was reportedly triggered when the driver of a car applied brakes suddenly. A truck behind the vehicle hit it before being hit by several vehicles behind it. The driver of the truck - hit by a vehicle when he stepped out to check for damages - has been admitted to a hospital where his conditions is said to be serious. The pileup mostly involved passenger vehicles but also involved an oil tanker and a bus.
Traffic movement on the Meerut-Ghaziabad carriageway remained affected for a few hours after the incident. While fog isn't uncommon in northern parts of the country in February, the need for proper awareness regarding the best practices of driving when visibility is low is very important. India ranks high on the list of countries with most road accidents and the country's highways are often where most of these incidents take place. Experts blame reckless driving practices like over speeding, driving into oncoming traffic, sudden lane changes and turns, as well as other factors that most commonly lead to unfortunate incidents.
(With agency inputs)