BackSpeed governors: Answer to Delhi’s road chaos
Speed governors: Answer to Delhi's road chaos
Premium
New Delhi: Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) has mooted a proposal for Delhi government to make it mandatory to ply only those buses, mini buses and trucks on Delhi roads that are fitted with speed governors to minimize road accidents, reduce noise and air pollution and increase fuel efficiency.
Delhi government and its Lt. Governor can issue directives, making it compulsory for all automobile dealers in and around Delhi to sell four wheelers that are fitted with speed governors to maintain vehicular discipline on Delhi roads.
According to the recommendation, “this would not earn displeasure for automobile manufactures as speed governors are tiny devices fitted in the speedometer itself and invokes sufficient vigilance and surveillance, forewarning vehicles’ runners not to exceed a particular speed that can push them into fatal and non-fatal accidents."
A country like China has made installation of speed governors mandatory in their heavy vehicles and buses which are used for public transportation to restrict their speed beyond 55 kmph. Delhi can emulate the same.
Delhi has seen a rapid growth in vehicles in conjuction with the increase in population and urban mobilization, which has resulted in high traffic volumes.
There are 3,500 privately operated Blue Line buses and about 3,106 DTC buses, 2165 RTV / Mini Buses for public transport. According to figures cited by Assocham an average of 20,000-30,000 trucks enter the city daily and cause accidents.
South and North Delhi, accounted for maximum number of accidents last year on Delhi roads. This year, accident rate has shown an upward trend according to Delhi traffic police database. Number of fatal accidents has come down to 1771 in 2003 to 1455 in 2005.
“The presence of mixed traffic on Delhi roads is the reason for accidents. All kinds of vehicles with different speeds compete for road space. Besides, the large number of vehicles of which a substantial chunk is public transport, play havoc."
The comparative accident statistics of India’s four metros shows that Delhi has more vehicles than all three metros put together. Taking the number of public transport vehicles and the co-relation with accident rates, Chennai tops the list with 2,314 buses and 8,497 accidents, while Delhi had 1600 accidents for 6,330 buses. Kolkata had 406 accidents for 821 buses and Mumbai had 1006 accidents for 3,155 buses.
However, Delhi recorded the highest number of fatal accidents at 1,455 cases or 3.5% and Chennai follows with 153 fatal accidents at 5.7%.
Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
