This story is from February 22, 2020

Increase height of median: Motorists

Increase height of median: Motorists
Coimbatore: In the wake of Thursday’s accident on Salem-Kochi road near Avinashi that claimed 19 lives, motorists who regularly use the stretch say the height of the median should be increased to avoid such accidents in future.
The median on the accident spot is less than a foot. Motorists wanted to increase the height of the median on six-lane national highway by at least three feet.

K Subramaniam, 44, a businessman from Avinashi in Tirupur district, is a regular user of the Salem-Kochi NH road. He said the height of the median on the stretch should be increased at least by three feet. “If the median was at three feet height, the container truck would not have entered the other side of the lane. So, the NHAI officials should think of increasing the height of the median,” Subramaniam said.
U Udhayasankar, project manager, NHAI Project Implementation unit, Coimbatore, said the height of the median is 22 cm on Kochi- Salem NHAI stretch. It is constructed as per Indian Road Congress norms. There is no flaw in the road and median design, he added.
Meanwhile, the Tirupur city police have decided to send a letter to the Kerala government urging it to cancel the driving licence of the truck driver who caused the accident.
Deputy commissioner of police (crime & traffic), Tirupur city, V Badri Narayanan told TOI that the city traffic police would soon send a detailed report to the Kerala government about the accident and would urge it to cancel the driving licence of the container truck driver permanently.

The driver of the container truck driver, K A Hemaraj, 37, of Kollathumkundil at Ottapalam near Palakkad, was arrested by the Thirumuruganpoondi police on Thursday. He was produced before the judicial magistrate court -III in Tirupur on Friday.
Later, he was remanded in judicial custody for 15 days and lodged in the Coimbatore Central Prison.
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