Chennai: The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has banned the entry of two-wheelers on the Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway, reported The Indian Express.
The decision by authorities follows an accident in which four people, including a two-year-old girl, were killed on the newly built highway.
An SUV drove head-on into a two-wheeler near Kuppahalli in Karnataka’s Kolar district on Sunday night.
The deceased were identified as Mahesh (45), who was driving, Ratnamma (60), a relative seated in the front, 2-year-old Udvitha and an unidentified bike rider. All four died on the spot, according to the Express report.
Three family members of Mahesh — Sushmitha, Virutha, Sujatha and Sunil — sustained injuries and were shifted to a Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) hospital for treatment.
The residents of Kammasandra in KGF was returning from Bengaluru when tragedy struck.
According to police, overspeeding may have caused the accident going by the impact, which severely damaged the front portion of the vehicle.
NHAI, which finished the construction of a 71-km stretch of the Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway in Karnataka, opened a 68-km stretch last month.
For now, however, two-wheelers won’t be allowed on this stretch. The ban is similar to the one on Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway.
The remaining stretch — from Hoskote to Sriperumbudur, near Chennai – spans 260 km and runs through Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, and is expected to be completed by the end of this year.