Cracking down on overspeeding motorists to stem the alarming number of accidents on Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway, the Ramanagara police on Tuesday, July 4, deployed three mobile speed radar guns and booked 44 vehicles (as of 10.30 p.m.) crossing the permissible limits of 100 kmph.
“The violators have been booked and their licences will be impounded. We have recommended to the RTO concerned to suspend their licence too,” Alok Kumar, Additional Director-General of Police, Traffic and Road Safety, told The Hindu.
Maximum speed limit
As per the rules, light motor vehicles have a maximum speed limit of 100 kmph while for heavy vehicles, including trucks and buses, it is 60 kmph. In addition, the police have proposed to the National Highways Authority of India ( NHAI) officials to ban movement of slow moving vehicles, including two and three-wheelers and tractors. These vehicles can use service road, he said.
However, people on social media criticised the move stating that there was no point of calling it an expressway as the speed limit is contained and the police have barricaded many places. “This is also another way of fleecing money from the public,” a Twitter user alleged.
Enforcing lane discipline
Clarifying the police stand, Mr. Alok Kumar said that the move is to contain overspeeding of vehicles and enforcing lane discipline. “People who travel in the newly assigned speed limit on the 118-km stretch of the expressway can easily reach in one hour. If the motorists accelerate to 120 speed, there is a danger of accident and losing control. Studies show that Indian drivers are not skilled and the vehicles are not equipped to maintain the speed for long due to many reasons,” he said.
Due to this, since the inception of the expressway, 100 deaths have been reported and over 150 people severely injured out of total number of 308 accidents reported since March 12 this year. This is alarming and a study by a team of police revealed that overspeeding and lack of lane discipline are two major factors causing accidents, another senior official said.
Temporary solution
Deploying mobile speed radar guns at strategic locations is only a temporary solution while the permanent solutions, including installation of contactless AI-based cameras, are on the cards. This needs some time for the approval of procurement and installation process, he added.
The mobile radar speed guns will soon be deployed on other stretches of the expressway, including in Mandya and others parts, based on the requirement until permanent solutions are in place. Until then, radar guns will guard the speed, a senior police officer said.
