Maharashtra: Samruddhi Expressway sees 39 deaths in accidents since its launch in Dec 2022

A total of 39 persons have lost their lives and 143 were injured in accidents on the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Expressway since its launch in December 2022 till the end of April this year, a senior police official said.

Addressing the media, the State Highway Police official said road hypnotism was one of the causes of these accidents. Road hypnosis, also called white line fever, is an altered mental state faced by drivers due to automaticity or the process of doing things automatically without actively thinking about the steps involved.

There were 358 accidents on the Samruddhi Corridor between December 12, 2022 and April 30, 2023. These include 24 accidents in which 39 persons were killed, while 143 were injured in 54 accidents. The State Highway Police is in the process of tackling the issue, he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on December 11, 2022 inaugurated the first phase of the expressway between Nagpur and Shirdi that covers a distance of 520 km. The length of the total project, officially named as Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg, is 701 km.