Cordel-Kulshekar Church Indian Catholic Youth Movement (ICYM ) Active Member 21-year-old TERRENCE D’SOUIZA Loses Life Riding his 2-Wheeler on Unscientific & Unmarked Road Hump
Mangaluru: The unscientifically laid road humps across the city are something that Mangaloreans need to complain about, as they not only pose a threat to the spines of motorists but also to vehicles. The highways department or local body must put up a warning sign 40m ahead of the speed breaker. If the government follows the IRC norms, it will help reduce accidents in the city. Speed breakers should also be painted with the correct yellow and white marks, which is lacking here in the city.
Does anyone care about it? Are our city and traffic authorities waiting for more casualties of motorists or what? It is time for the commuters/motorists to raise their voices against these unsafe “speed breakers” which are ” life breakers” to the concerned local civic authorities. Let us do it for a good cause for the safety of our lives and the lives of the citizens. Safety is much more important than being sorry later. Let’s do it before it’s too late. Despite many print and electronic media, including Mangalorean.com having highlighted the safety hazards of these nearly 95% of unscientific, worn out, pathetic, unmarked, treacherous road humps in the City, posing danger to motorists, especially two-wheelers, authorities have turned a blind eye to this issue- and now we have lost a young life due to the ignorance and carelessness of District Administration, Mangaluru City Corporation and also the Traffic Police Department.
Citizens had called the MCC Mayor and also the police commissioner on these unscientific road humps during the phone-in programmes, but other than promises made to rectify the issue, no action was taken, and now we have a fatality of a young soul. I bet action will be taken now in rectifying the dangerous road hump, after the death of this biker rider on this road hump. The tragic accident took place late Thursday night on the Maroli road, immediately after the Bikarnakatte flyover, The deceased youth is Terrence D’Souza (21), son of Stanley and Sunitha D’Souza of Kulshekar, Mangaluru.
It is learnt that soon after Terrence lost his balance on the road hump, his two-wheeler fell on the road, and unfortunately, his head hit the road divider, which caused his death on the spot. Sources reveal that Terrence was on his way to the petrol bunk nearby to refuel his bike. His friends and members of IYCM-Cordel say he was an active member and involved in social and community activities in and around Cordel. He was very helpful in the Cordel neighbourhood, always ready for any volunteer work, and a much loved ICYM member. He was pursuing his engineering studies
FUNERAL DETAILS:
Terrence D’Souza (21), son of Stanley Oswald (Stanley Associates) and Sunitha D’Souza, brother of Henrita D’Souza, passed away on February 9, 2024. Funeral cortege leaves residence at Kulshekar, Mangaluru at 2.15 pm on Saturday, February 10 for Holy Cross Church, Kulshekar, Mangaluru, followed by Mass at 3.00 pm. For More Details Contact: 98450 85798
POTHOLES & UNSCIENTIFIC ROAD HUMPS ARE KILLING or INJURING MOTORISTS- WHAT ARE OUR CONCERNED AUTHORITIES DOING, TO PREVENT IT?
It is learnt that Indian Road Congress( IRC) standards do not recommend speed breakers at all. The speed limit in an urban hub like Mangaluru is 25-40 kmph. If everyone travels at this speed, there’s no need for speed breakers. As per IRC standards, only narrow roads can have scientifically built parabolic humps and not main, wide roads. Then why do we have so many speed humps in the city? Why aren’t our city officials not following the rules? And if they are constructing these speed breakers/road humps/speed bumps, then why aren’t they erecting caution signs about these speed controllers? These humps are hazardous, especially to two-wheeler riders, who fall off their bikes/scooters every single day- and since none of them are complaining- the police have turned a blind eye to it.
The image of notoriously bad city roads with potholes, chaotic traffic and omnipresent wandering cows and stray dogs is well-ingrained and added to that we have unmarked, unwarned, unwanted and unspecific sized speed bumps which create a lot of hassles and danger to motorists. The concerned authorities in Mangaluru may have done meticulous planning to give residents a smooth ride, however, speed breakers have been playing spoilsport. Most of the speed breakers in the city are, therefore, illegal. Nearly all of the speed breakers constructed on internal roads of the city are unauthorized and illegal.
Two-wheelers and three-wheelers frequently lose balance due to the height of these breakers. Commuting has become very dangerous at night due to this, and especially for out-of-town motorists these speed breakers are very dangerous without any warning signs. A speed bump should be indicated by a warning sign just before the driver reaches the bump. Speed bumps are usually painted with black and yellow stripes to draw a driver’s attention before he reaches the bump. While many of the road humps are not painted with stripes., the painted stripes have worn out on others.