The crash at the Gurusaday Dutt Road-Syed Amir Ali Avenue intersection in south Kolkata early on Monday, which killed an 18-year-old college girl, could possibly be the outcome of ignoring the red light for a left turn from Amir Ali Avenue, police suspect.
Ignoring red light and jumping flanks are common among motorists at night, when roads are relatively empty.
What makes the stretch more accident-prone is poor illumination and the tendency of vehicles plying along Gurusaday Dutt Road to move through the right flank, without realising that a vehicle might be approaching from the opposite direction.
It is unlikely that the vehicles involved in the crash were abiding by the traffic signal. Police are yet to conclude what exactly led to the 12.30am crash.
The dangers of driving through the south Kolkata stretch are apparent to any motorist who has travelled through the place at night.
The Telegraph visited the crossing on Tuesday afternoon and saw many vehicles plying through Gurusaday Dutt Road towards Syed Amir Ali Avenue through the right flank.
A police officer said they “overlook” such violations to reduce the queue of vehicles on Gurusaday Dutt Road when the signal at the thoroughfare’s crossing with Syed Amir Ali Avenue turns green.
When the signal at the Gurusaday Dutt Road-Syed Amir Ali Avenue crossing is green, the signal for vehicles on Syed Amir Ali Avenue’s Park Circus-bound flank is red. There is no free left turn on that flank.
“So, even if a vehicle on Gurusaday Road shifts to the right flank when the signal is green, there is no chance of collision with any vehicle waiting on Syed Amir Ali Avenue to take a left turn, unless the latter jumps the red signal,” the officer explained.
However, at night, when the number of vehicles and cops on roads go down, many motorists moving through Syed Amir Ali Avenue may mistakenly assume that they have a ‘free left’ towards Gurusaday Road, not realising that there could be vehicles coming from the opposite direction through the same flank, police sources said.
Jayantika Jhunjhunwala
Even if the signal is green for vehicles to turn left to Gurusaday Dutt Road, there is a chance of collision with a vehicle moving towards Syed Amir Ali Avenue if the latter is on the wrong flank of Gurusaday Dutt Road.
Jayantika Jhunjhunwala, 18, a student of St Xavier’sCollege, died in a collision between a Volkswagen Taigun, in which she was travelling with three friends, and a milk van at the Syed Amir Ali Avenue-Gurusaday Dutt Road intersection.
The police said the SUV was turning left from Syed Amir Ali Avenue, while the milk van was moving through Gurusaday Dutt Road towards Syed Amir Ali Avenue. The car was apparently speeding, as most vehicles moving through that stretch at night do, and spun out of control while turning left, the police said.
An officer at Ballygunge police station said there were two CCTV cameras on that stretch but none was facing the location where the SUV turned left and hit the kerb railing, seconds before the collision.
The cameras also apparently do not cover the traffic signals. So, the cops are finding it difficult to ascertain whether the signal was red or green when the SUV turned left.
The driver of the milk van is yet to be questioned, an officer said. The three teenagers who were with Jayantika in the SUV, too, are yet to be questioned.
“We have learned from eyewitnesses that the SUV was moving at a high speed. We are not sure about the signal,” said an officer.