New Delhi, May 29 (IANS): The death of over 25 people on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway could have been avoided if a key traffic rule had been followed, the International Road Federation (IRF) has said.

The Geneva-based body said the use of reflective tapes on all sides of buses and trucks for cautioning other road users could have saved precious lives and avoided the accident.

"As per the Indian Motor Vehicle Act, it is mandatory for heavy vehicles including trucks and buses to have reflective tapes on all sides," it said in a statement.

"This helps in checking accidents, and vehicles plying without these reflective tapes have to be fined."

IRF chairmman K.K. Kapila, the first non-European to hold the post, said even vehicle makeres were ignoring this mandatory norm while transport and traffic officials were not even aware of the rule.

"Had the buses, which stopped for tyre change at the eway, had manadatory reflective tapes on all sides, the truck driver could have spotted them from a distance," Kapila said.

On Monday, a speeding truck hit some stationary vehicles, crushing more than 25 members of a wedding party who were going from Mumbai to Pune. The tragedy took place on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.