The Kazhakootam-Karode stretch will turn into an accident hotspot

Repeated accidents on the Kazhakoottam-Karode stretch of National Highway 66 (NH 66) have raised serious concerns about road safety, with speeding on some stretches and lack of traffic control systems at several major junctions being key factors in the mishaps. In the latest incident, 19-year-old motorcyclist Muhammed Ajas died on the spot on August 29 after his motorcycle rammed into the back of a parked KSRTC bus near Thuppanathu Kavu bus stand in Vazhamuttam. A day earlier, 40-year-old MJ Ratheesh Kumar, a native of Kanjiramkulam, was killed after an out-of-control car hit his motorcycle on the Kazhakootam-Karode state highway.

In another freak accident on August 16, 51-year-old RV hotel employee Pradeep Chandran died in the early hours of the day when his scooter was rammed from behind by a moving car with a Tamil Nadu registration plate near Vazhamuttam. On August 9, two elder sisters, Shanthamma (62) and Vijayamma (70), lost their lives after they were hit by a speeding motorcycle while trying to cross the highway near Karimbuvila junction in Tiruvallam early in the morning. A police investigation into the death of two IT professionals, Naveen Sibi, 25, and Mridula Ann Oommen, 25, after the motorcycle they were riding crashed into a partition near Tiruvallam in July, has revealed that they lost control of the vehicle after their motorbike was hit by a speeding car before fleeing the scene.

Speeding

According to Ragam Rahim, who approached the Human Rights Commission seeking an inquiry into the reasons behind the rise in road accidents on the Kazhakootam-Karode NH 66 stretch, speeding on the newly completed stretches even as traffic crawls at a snail’s pace in areas where flyovers are still under construction, including Eenchakkal, is one of the main reasons for the increasing number of accidents.

Adding to the woes of motorists and the public is the fact that many major intersections have no systems in place to regulate traffic. Authorities should install cameras and speed detectors on vulnerable stretches to ensure traffic violations are detected and culprits punished, he said. Acting on his complaint, Human Rights Commission chairman Justice Alexander Thomas recently ordered the city’s police commissioner to investigate the reasons behind the spike in road accidents on the stretch and submit a report within a month.

Other factors that contribute to recurring accidents include poor highway lighting, unscientific service roads, speeding and competitive driving. According to local residents, there are no systems in place to control speeding, especially at night, or prevent traffic violations at night, which also contribute to accidents.

Speaking to The Hindu, S. Shaheem, Chief Scientist for Transport Planning at the National Transportation Planning and Research Center (NATPAC), said that as the work on the four-laning was still going on, no full-fledged road safety measures had been put in place on the stretch.

Besides, unscientific traffic arrangements at several junctions, including Tiruvallam, where traffic is forced to move in two directions at certain stretches, pose a serious threat to the safety of motorists, he said, while stressing that a detailed analysis should be done to check recurring accidents.

Published – 31 Aug 2026 23:52 IST