Road safety experts moot wider medians

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Four-and-a-half-metre-wide medians are mandatory for the NH-17 and NH-47 stretches which are being developed, to bring down road accidents and reduce traffic congestion, according to road safety experts.

Most of the road accidents on highways are due to collisions in stretches that do not have medians and near busy junctions where vehicles queue up to take a right turn. Road safety experts say many head-on collisions, like the recent one on NH-47 near Parippally that resulted in the death of four persons, could have been avoided if there were medians on the highway. They propose construction of a four-and-a-half-metre-wide median, which should be reduced to three-and-half metres near junctions to create a waiting area for vehicles intending to turn right. It will decongest junctions and ensure speedy movement of vehicles through the lane next to the median on four-lane roads.