Greater Noida: Reduced visibility on the Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE) in Greater Noida on Saturday morning, led to a series of vehicular collisions, with a pile-up of at least 15 collisions starting around 8.30am, officials said. There was no casualty and the congestion was cleared within two hours, after visibility improved by 9.30am.
While there was a prediction for shallow fog in the region for the day, visibility sharply dipped to around 200 metres, from around midnight to 9 am, according to the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD’s) UP West unit.
“Around 8.30am on Saturday, when a vehicle was heading towards Palwal from the Dasna side on the EPE, the driver slowed down due to dense fog near Samadhipur village under the jurisdiction of Dadri police station. While the vehicle was moving at a slow speed, another vehicle crashed into it from behind,” a police officer who was among the first respondents to the incident, said.
The officer, requesting anonymity, said, “When both the vehicles stopped to check damages, another vehicle crashed into them, and within a few minutes, as many as 15 vehicles, including heavy and light vehicles, were involved in a chain of collisions.”
According to the IMD, easterly surface winds prevailed on Saturday, with speeds reaching up to 10kmph during the morning. On Sunday, it forecasted partly cloudy conditions with moderate fog in the morning hours.
As police received information on the emergency helpline 112, a team from the Dadri police station rushed to the spot and stopped movement on the EPE. “After two hours of effort, the vehicles involved in the accidents were removed from the main carriageway and traffic was restored. No injuries were reported and no complaint has been received yet,” said Ajeet Kumar Singh, assistant commissioner of police, Greater Noida.
Following the accident, the Noida traffic police also issued an advisory to reduce the speed limit on the EPE and the Noida–Greater Noida Expressway. The speed limit on the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway and Yamuna Expressway will be reduced from 100 kilometres per hour to 75 kilometres per hour for light vehicles from December 15, as previously reported.
The traffic police said that the speed limit for heavy vehicles will remain 60 kilometres per hour on the Yamuna Expressway and 50 kilometres per hour on the Noida Expressway.
Traffic police said winter visibility drops sharply, making high-speed driving unsafe. Slippery roads also reduce traction and make manoeuvring vehicles difficult. The speed limit is typically lowered for two months from December 15.
“The revised limit of the expressway will also be seen on Google Maps, an initiative that was taken during the road safety month in November,” said Dr Pravin Ranjan Singh, deputy commissioner of police (traffic).
According to Noida traffic police data, 59,242 challans were issued for speeding violations this year, up to October. In 2024, 462 people died and 966 others were injured in 1,165 accidents. In 2025, between January and August, 311 people died and 585 were injured in 797 accidents in the district.