Truck’s brake fail on Mumbai-Pune Expressway; Saved by side rails

A viral video of an out-of-control truck on the Mumbai-Pune expressway is going viral on social media sites. The truck was spotted running down the slope of Khandala on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. According to reports, the brakes failed. The video taken by the onlookers shows how important the side rails are and how the side rails saved the truck from falling down from the bridge.

This is what happened at the Mumbai-Pune Expressway… pic.twitter.com/5zKYs8jL8Q

— Vivek Gupta (@imvivekgupta) December 10, 2022

The loaded truck was carrying sacks of cement when the accident happened. The brakes of the truck failed at Khandala Ghat, which is a steep downhill. The driver of the truck identified as Sanjay Yadav noticed that the brakes were not responding and decided to slow down and park the truck on the side of the expressway using the handbrake.

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However, as soon as the truck driver got off the truck, the handbrake failed too. The truck started to roll down the expressway without the driver. The truck driver stopped the vehicular movement on the expressway  to keep everyone safe. The truck sped past Amrutanjan bridge on the downhill and hit the side barriers. The truck hit collided with the side barriers and changed its direction. It again collided with the side barriers, which prevented the truck from falling down into the gorge.

There is no loss of life reported in the incident. Khalpur police has registered a case against the truck driver and have detained the driver too. Careless drivers not doing proper inspection of the trucks is one of the major causes of such accidents.

Not doing proper inspection of heavy vehicles that ply the roads causes a lot of such accidents. In the past, most accidents involving heavy vehicles on the roads have turned out to be fatal.

Many truckers switch off the ignition to save fuel

There are many truck accidents on the downhill and most of them are caused because the drivers turn off the engine to supposedly save fuel. While most trucks do not have electronic power steering, they do use the engine power for the brakes. Even power brakes are available with many old trucks in India. These use vacuum booster that works with engine’s intake manifold. Turning off the engine on a downhill can be dangerous.

Overloading is a culprit too

Overloading vehicles is a common problem in India. Most commercial vehicles are overfilled with goods and it becomes a nuisance on the roads. Overloading puts extra stress on the engine too and the life of the engine itself comes down by a great deal. Also, an overloaded vehicle tends to break down more often on the road and needs frequent replacement of critical parts.

While there are mechanisms in place to keep a check on overloaded vehicles, they do not work very well. We get to see many such overloaded trucks and heavy vehicles on the roads that become a great threat to the other motorists on the road.

In the cities where public transport is scarce, people travel in whatever way they can find. Often that way is hanging out from a vehicle due to the very limited numbers of transport vehicles on the roads. It is not uncommon to see men, women and children hanging out to travel on such vehicles on the roads in interior parts of the country.

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