Short-cuts to avoid traffic cops on the rise on ECR

Recently three college students lost their lives after a water tanker hit a median and ploughed through a crowd. A few days ago two persons were killed and three others injured when an SUV collided with a car on ECR. 

After the spate of accidents on ECR and OMR, the traffic police are taking strict action against people who drive dangerously. However, motorists,  take interior routes to escape the traffic cops.

“I travel regularly to Mahabalipuram on the weekends. I leave from there on Monday morning to go to work directly. I will not reach on time if I follow the speed limits, so I end up driving at 100 km. While returning, instead of the ECR, I take the OMR route because that’s close to office. Since I am familiar with the route I know the exact spots where the checks happen,” says S. Raman, an IT employee. He further adds, “Usually there are two check posts on OMR. One near Turyaa Hotel and another near Prince Infocity. To avoid the check post I take the road  after the metro station sewage treatment plant and use Ambedkar Nagar Main Road to reach Thoraipakkam junction. The drive is smooth after that. 

R. Mukesh, a resident of Adyar, says that he knows when and where the police conduct the checks and plan their trips accordingly. “On ECR there is a check post near VGP and one near Radha Krishna Temple. Although I am speeding. I slow down near these junctions. The cops are present there throughout the day. In the night, there are cops positioned near Neelankarai Police station. However, they remain there only till 1 am. People driving under the influence of alcohol wait till 2 am and  then start driving,” he adds. 

There are police patrol constantly doing rounds. “To avoid being stopped by them, we take the interior roads and wait till they leave,” says Harsh another party-goer. “Usually these beach parties finish only early in the morning and there are not many checks around that time.” 

However, the police say the checks have been stricter. A senior traffic police official says, “Apart from the regular spots where we conduct routine checks throughout the night we also frequently change the check points. Strict action is being taken against those flouting the rules.”