18-year-old man loses life in accident near SN Junction in Kochi

TRIPUNITHURA: A fatal two-wheeler accident occurred near SN Junction here on Wednesday morning, taking the life of an eighteen-year-old man. This is the fourth such accident that has occurred here in the past three months.
Sreyas Kumar succumbed to injuries as his bike skidded while taking a deviation to Vaikom Road and the vehicle went under the wheels of a passing KSRTC bus.A first-year degree student at Bharath Matha College, Kumar was staying as a paying guest at Puthencruz. As he was taking a right turn from SN Junction to Vaikom road, he lost his balance, and the two-wheeler skidded due to the level difference in the road.

Nearly a month ago Kavya, 26, was killed in another accident at the U-turn near Alliance Junction. Two months ago, two youths on a two-wheeler had died as their bike collided on the median near Alliance Junction.
From Vadakkekotta to SN Junction the roads on either side of the median have uneven slopes as tarring work along the stretch is still incomplete. "There is a possibility of two-wheelers' skidding and the rider getting trapped between the wheels of speeding vehicles coming from the same direction," said K Murali Krishna, a resident of Adampillykavu Road.
"Not only the road tarring but the design of the U-turns and access to pedestrian crossings are unscientific and this often creates confusion among bike riders and pedestrians," said The Pedestrian Facilitation Council (TPFC) president R Ajithkumar Varma.
"Though we have approached the KMRL authorities with repeated requests for redesigning of the existing U-turns along the two-and-a-half-kilometre stretch, they did not pay heed to our requests," said V P Satheeshan, a stationery shop owner near SN Junction.