Samruddhi Expressway sees 39 deaths in road accidents since Dec 2022; road hypnosis among causes

A total of 39 persons have been killed and 143 injured in accidents on the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Expressway between December 12 last year and April 30, 2023, a senior police official said on Friday.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.State Highway Police is in the process of tackling the issue.

A total of 39 persons have been killed and 143 injured in accidents on the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Expressway between December 12 last year and April 30, 2023, a senior police official said on Friday.

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.

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

''Across Maharashtra, there were 15,224 deaths in road crashes in 2022. Of these deaths, 57 per cent were of two-wheeler and three-wheeler riders. Pedestrian deaths accounted for 21 per cent. Some 43 per cent accidents took place on Other District Roads (ODR) across the state,'' the official added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 520 kilometre Nagpur to Shirdi phase one of the 720-kilometre corridor in December last year.