A deadly pre-dawn crash on the SG Highway near Gandhinagar on Sunday has once again exposed the lethal combination of dense winter fog, high speed and poor visibility—that has triggered a surge in fatal road accidents across India in recent weeks.
One young man was killed and several others injured after a State Transport bus, a Fortuner SUV and a Brezza car collided near Vaishno Devi Circle amid heavy fog, reducing visibility to a few metres.
The Gandhinagar accident
The accident occurred around 6.30 am today on January 18, when a Fortuner speeding from Sarkhej towards Gandhinagar attempted to overtake another vehicle in near-zero visibility. According to police sources, the driver lost control, rammed into the median, vaulted over the divider and crashed head-on into a Gujarat State Transport bus travelling on the Himmatnagar–Rajkot route.
The force of the collision pushed the bus onto the divider. A Brezza car following the Fortuner was also caught in the pile-up, leaving both cars mangled beyond recognition.
The Fortuner’s driver, Dhaval, son of Gandhinagar-based lawyer I. B. Vaghela, died on the spot. A young woman travelling with him suffered serious injuries and was rushed to hospital. Two others—Afsanabanu Samerbhai Khalifa (23) and Rasulbhai Babubhai Azam (32)—were injured and are undergoing treatment. Passengers on the bus were evacuated safely and escaped without injuries.
Traffic chaos, police action
The crash brought traffic on the SG Highway to a standstill, with debris scattered across multiple lanes. Gandhinagar police deployed cranes to remove the wreckage and restore traffic movement, while launching an investigation into the sequence of events.
A nationwide pattern
The Gandhinagar crash is part of a worrying nationwide pattern of fog-related accidents reported from highways in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Bihar, where dense fog has drastically reduced visibility during early morning hours. Multiple pile-ups, head-on collisions and bus crashes have been reported, many involving speeding vehicles and delayed reaction times.
Road safety experts have repeatedly warned that winter fog, combined with aggressive driving and inadequate fog-warning systems on highways, continues to turn India’s roads into death traps.
Authorities have once again urged motorists to slow down, use fog lights, maintain safe distances and avoid overtaking in low-visibility conditions—advice that, as the Gandhinagar tragedy shows, is often ignored until it is too late.
Also Read: 5 Gujarat Tourists Killed in Punjab Crash Due To Fog https://www.vibesofindia.com/5-gujarat-tourists-killed-in-punjab-crash-due-to-fog/
