The reason for banning two-wheelers on E-City and KIA Road elevated corridors in Bengaluru

More than 41 people have lost their lives on the Electronics City and Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) flyovers in the last 19 months, prompting the Bengal Traffic Police (BTP) to impose the recently announced restrictions, according to official documents accessed by The Hindu.

According to the BTP notification, two-wheelers will be banned from the Electronics City flyover from September 11. Similarly, two-wheelers are restricted on KIA Road flyover (from Sanjeevininagar Cross to Vidyashilpa Junction) from September 4.

A check of the data revealed that the Electronics City flyover witnessed 14 fatal accidents in 2025 and 12 in 2026 (till the end of July). On the other hand, the KIA Road flyover recorded five and 10 fatal accidents in 2025 and 2026, respectively. On average, 70-85% of accidents on these elevated corridors involved two-wheelers.

A senior police officer explained to The Hindu that both the elevated corridors had been witnessing a high number of accidents continuously for more than five years and now there has been a sharp increase.

An alarming trend

Looking at the police station, the Electronics City flyover mainly falls under three stations – E-City, Madiwala and HSR Layout – whose combined total number of fatal accidents in 2025 was 67. So 21% of the total number of accidents happened on the elevated corridor.

Similarly, about 8 km of KIA Road flyover is covered by Hebbal and Yelahanka police stations, which recorded a combined 78 fatal accidents in 2025. Of the total number of fatal accidents, about 6% took place on the elevated corridor. When we consider the data from 2026, the percentage rises to 12%.

It is to be noted that Yelahanka is the station that witnesses the highest number of accidents while Electronics City station witnesses the fourth highest number of accidents in the city every year. A senior police officer explained that the two stations are on the outskirts of the city where they are naturally prone to accidents due to roads and other factors. “When you compare these accident statistics with places in the city, the numbers are alarming,” the officer pointed out.

Police stations register less

To put it simply, more than 35 police stations in the city have recorded fewer fatal accidents than the incidents that took place on the Electronics City flyover. As for the KIA Road flyover, more than 10 stations have recorded fewer fatalities than the said elevated corridor.

Karthik Reddy, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), told The Hindu that the alarming number of accidents on these corridors, especially those involving two-wheelers, prompted them to conduct a survey and then decide to ban two-wheelers.

Commuters divided

A doctor at a nearby private hospital in south-east Bengaluru explained that accident victims in the Electronics City corridor, especially by two-wheeler riders, are very common. “Many non-fatal accidents go unreported because people often don’t file complaints, but we have several cases every month,” he pointed out.

According to the data, 32 non-fatal cases were recorded on the Electronics City flyover in 2025 and 28 in the seven months of 2026.

On the other hand, Suchith, who commutes daily to E-City from Koramangala on a two-wheeler, objected to this move and emphasized that even the Yellow Line metro is not easily accessible, so he commuted by bike.

“They have already banned tricycles, including trucks, so bikes could be placed on the stretch,” he said.

Published – 31 Aug 2026 19:38 IST