Massive car pile-up on Ludhiana-Delhi national highway due to fog, several hurt

At least one person has lost life and several others were injured in a road accident that took place near Ludhiana in Punjab today morning. According to the police, dense fog led to a massive car pile-up which also involved buses and trucks, on the Ludhiana-Delhi national highway in the early hours of November 13. As of now, there is no exact number of vehicles involved in the accident. However, the police said that more than two dozen vehicles, over 24 in number, piled up against each other in the mishap.

Initial reports said that no one was seriously injured in the accident, which took place around 40 kms from Ludhiana district headquarters near a village called Libra. Rajesh Sharma, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Khanna), had said that those who were injured in the road accident have been discharged after they received first-aid at local private hospitals.

Police said that some of the victims involved in the crash drove away their vehicles despite being damaged. Police towed away the other vehicles which were badly damaged in the incident. According to police, at least two state transport buses and one truck was involved in the pile-up. Prima facie, dense fog is seen as the key reason behind the road accident.

Road accidents in India have been on the rise in the past few years. According to the report released by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), India recorded a total of 4.61 lakh road mishaps last year. The number of people killed due to these accidents has gone up to 1.68 lakh. Nearly 4.45 lakh people were also injured in these road accidents. The number of accidents in India has gone up by almost 12 per cent compared to 2021 while the number of fatalities has increased by 9.4 per cent. Overspeeding, wrong-side driving and drunken driving are some of the biggest reasons behind road accidents in India.

The Centre is planning to introduce new norms in car safety as road accidents continue to surge in India. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has shared a draft policy which proposes installing in-built collision warning signal in passenger cars as well as commercial vehicles to bring down the number of road accidents in the country.