Bengaluru, Apr 15 (DHNS): A 17-year-old youth was killed and a man injured when a woman lost control of the car she was driving on Ballari road, near Columbia Asia Hospital in Hebbal here on Thursday.
Arvind, a Pre-university student of Presidency College succumbed to injuries while Vijay Hiremath (46) was injured when Anita Sen (56) lost control and her car jumped the median, ramming the duo’s bikes.
No lessons learnt
In February 2015, a speeding tanker had killed Arpitha, a 19-year-old student, and Anand, a 25-year-old resident of Doddaballapur, near Esteem Mall, barely 300 metres from Thursday’s accident site.
Hundreds of students from nearby colleges had protested then, demanding a skywalk. The authorities had agreed. But, till date there is no skywalk and pedestrians have a tough time crossing the road while accidents continue to occur.
Rajesh Gopalkrishnan, a resident of an apartment nearby, recalled that the front strip of Esteem Mall was demolished to erect the promised skywalk. The work was stopped due to land acquisition problems, claim some officials who came to inspect the spot recently, he said.
Thursday’s accident occurred around 9.15 am when Sen was coming from the Kempegowda International Airport. She hit the median and the car landed on the other side of the road, hitting the two bikers. She first rammed into Arvind, who was on his bike.
The impact was so strong that he was thrown up into the air and suffered head injuries. The car then knocked down Hiremath’s bike, injuring him. The car came to a halt after Sen hit the pavement. Passersby informed the police, who rushed to the spot and shifted all three to hospital. Arvind succumbed to his injuries while Hiremath and Sen are stable.
The car and the bikes were completely damaged, said the police. Arvind, a resident of Ganganagar, lived with his parents Muralidhar, an accountant in a private school, and mother Lakshmi. Hiremath, a resident of Muthyala Nagar and a civil contractor, is undergoing treatment. Sen, a private company employee, also suffered minor injuries.
“Eyewitnesses told the police that they saw the car coming from the airport and the driver was driving in a rash and negligent manner. She narrowly missed hitting other vehicles as she was speeding. Near Columbia Asia hospital, she rammed the median and the car flew over the median and hit two bikes resulting in one death,” a senior police officer said.
“It appears Sen is a learner as the car bore an ‘L’ sticker. She is in a state of shock and is not giving her residential address. She claims she is from North India but is not telling which state. We have sent her blood sample for examination to ascertain if she was under the influence of alcohol. We will also check the validity of her driving licence,” added the officer. A case has been registered at the Hebbal traffic police station.