A 35-year-old man who was riding his bicycle through the wrong flank of the Sector V ring road was killed after being run over by a private bus on Wednesday, police said.
Bhupen Pramanik, 35, was riding towards Mahisbathan from Sector V and had abruptly taken a right turn to cross the road when a bus on the Barasat-Botanic Garden route hit him, an officer of the Bidhannagar commissionerate’s traffic wing said.
The officer said the driver had slammed the brakes but failed to stop the bus on time.
“The man was cycling through the flank meant for commuters moving in the opposite direction. He was flung off the bicycle under the impact of the crash and landed on the ground on his head. We rushed him to Bidhannagar Sub-divisional Hospital,” said the officer.
Pramanik died of his injuries. “He had lost a lot of blood from a head injury and was unconscious when he was wheeled into the hospital. There was no pulse and we failed to revive him,” said a doctor.
Bicycles are the only mode of transport for thousands of people in the city and its adjoining areas.
The fear of catching Covid-19 while travelling in public transport and rising fuel prices have forced many more to opt for cycles in the past couple of years.
However, the slow-moving cycles pose various challenges as they share roads with faster vehicles such as buses and two-wheelers. Moreover, a large number of cyclists flout traffic rules — they ride through the wrong flank of the road and do not stop at red signals.
An officer of the traffic wing said the bus driver, Swapan Dey, 42, a resident of Duttapukur in North 24-Parganas, had been arrested.
“The driver has been charged under various sections of the Motor Vehicle Act and the IPC,” said the officer.