Did Sleep Hypnosis Kill 26 On Maharashtra Expressway?

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday ordered a probe into the horrific bus accident on Samruddhi Mahamarg in Buldhana.

The chief minister further said that the government will mull over safety measures on the newly-launched highway as several accidents have been reported recently.

"A total of 33 people were travelling on the bus out of which 26 people died and 7 people sustained injuries. The driver of the bus also survived and said that the bus overturned after a tyre burst leading to flames in the bus," said Buldhana SP Sunil Kadasane.

"The driver of the bus who survived the accident said that the vehicle overturned after a tyre burst, and later caught fire killing 25 people on the spot and leaving 8 others injured," Buldhana SP Sunil Kadasane told ANI.

Maharashtra police said that tyre burst was the main cause behind the fatal bus accident in which 25 people, including three children, were killed and eight others were injured in Buldhana district.

Sleep hypnosis could be the reason

According to reports, sleep hypnosis could be one of the main concerns that the state government may need to look into.

Road hypnosis, also called white line fever, is an altered mental state faced by drivers due to automaticity or the process of doing things automatically without actively thinking about the steps involved.

According to the latest reports, a total of 39 persons have lost their lives and 143 were injured in accidents on the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Expressway since its launch in December 2022 till the end of April this year.

"There were 358 accidents on the Samruddhi Corridor between December 12, 2022 and April 30, 2023. These include 24 accidents in which 39 persons were killed, while 143 were injured in 54 accidents," an official told PTI.

"Across Maharashtra, there were 15,224 deaths in road crashes in 2022. Of these deaths, 57 per cent were of two-wheeler and three-wheeler riders. Pedestrian deaths accounted for 21 per cent. Some 43 per cent of accidents took place on Other District Roads (ODR) across the state," the official added.

What is sleep hypnosis?

Sleep hypnosis is a condition where the driver may feel like sleeping, despite the eyes being open. It is a brief disconnect from the outer world. This condition occurs when motorists are continuously driving for hours without any breaks and sometimes zone out.