A road accident was reported again on the highway near Roorkee in Uttarakhand where Indian cricketer Rishabh Pant’s car had crashed a few years ago. On Friday morning, a Swift car lost control while attempting to avoid potholes near Gurukul Narsan and collided with the divider of the service road, injuring four occupants. A motorcyclist was also seriously injured after being hit by the uncontrolled car.
The accident took place in the Gurukul Narsan area, around one kilometre from the site of Rishabh Pant’s accident. According to the preliminary information, the car became uncontrollable while the driver was trying to avoid potholes. Police are investigating the complete circumstances of the accident.
Four people were travelling in the Swift car, and all of them are reportedly residents of Roorkee. They were returning home after visiting Khatu Shyam. When the car reached the Gurukul Narsan highway on Friday morning, the driver attempted to change direction to avoid potholes on the road. The car lost balance during the manoeuvre and collided with the divider of the service road.
The collision damaged the car and injured all four occupants.
The accident also involved a motorcyclist who was standing near the roadside. The motorcyclist, identified as Ankit Tyagi, a resident of Kuankhedi, was reportedly waiting at a bus stop to drop his children at school when the uncontrolled car hit him.
People present nearby helped the injured and informed the police. After police reached the spot, all the injured were taken to the Civil Hospital by 108 ambulance.
Police took the damaged car into custody and parked it at the police outpost. The accident site was also inspected.
According to the preliminary information, the car losing control while attempting to avoid potholes is being cited as the cause of the accident. However, the police investigation may also examine the road condition, vehicle speed, the driver’s control and the circumstances around the accident. No final conclusion regarding the cause of the accident has been released so far.
Following the accident, local residents again raised concerns about the condition of the highway from the Narsan border to Haridwar. Residents said several sections of the road have deep potholes and that their condition has worsened due to rain and continuous vehicle movement.
According to local residents, drivers often make sudden changes in direction to avoid potholes, creating a risk for oncoming vehicles and people nearby.
Local residents have demanded repairs to the highway and the filling of potholes. They said poor road conditions are not only causing difficulties for drivers but can also contribute to accidents. They particularly raised concerns about locations where service roads, dividers, bus stops and the main highway are close to each other.
The Gurukul Narsan area and surrounding route have remained under discussion because Indian cricketer Rishabh Pant’s car met with a serious accident in the same area in December 2022. At that time, Pant was travelling from Delhi towards Roorkee when his car collided with a divider near Narsan and overturned.
Later, then Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that Pant had told him that the car became uncontrollable while he was trying to avoid a pothole.
Road safety on the route continued to be discussed after Pant’s accident. The latest accident, in which five people were injured, has again brought the issue of road quality and maintenance into focus at the local level. However, the circumstances of the two incidents are different, and the current accident cannot directly be linked to the 2022 crash. In the present case, police have initially said that the car became uncontrollable while attempting to avoid potholes.
Police and the relief team responded after receiving information about the accident. All five injured people, including the four occupants of the car and the motorcyclist, were taken to the Civil Hospital with the help of a 108 ambulance. According to the report, the motorcyclist sustained serious injuries.
Further information about the treatment and condition of the injured will depend on the hospital’s medical report and doctors’ assessment.
Police have taken the damaged vehicle into custody and are collecting facts related to the accident. Information from people present at the scene, the condition of the road and the damaged parts of the vehicle may form part of the investigation.
If potholes on the road are established as the cause of the accident, the responsibility for road maintenance and the status of repairs may also become relevant to the administration.
The incident has again highlighted the risk posed by road defects on the highway. When a pothole suddenly appears in front of a vehicle travelling at speed, the driver may have to change direction immediately. If a service road, divider or another vehicle is nearby, the possibility of a collision can increase. In the Gurukul Narsan incident, the car collided with the divider and subsequently hit the motorcyclist.
The five injured people are currently undergoing treatment and police are investigating the accident. Local residents have demanded that damaged sections of the highway be identified and repaired immediately and that deep potholes be filled.
