MUMBAI: Imposing a minimum fine of Rs 2,000 for breaching the 80 km per hour speed limit or breaking driving lanes, against the present negligible fine of Rs 200 is now the growing demand of officials managing the Mumbai-Pune expressway. In this way, they hope to curb the increasing number of mishaps taking place on the Pune-Mumbai expressway.
Officials say people are not bothered by the present Rs 200 fine. They pay it and then merrily zoom on their way, breaking the 80 kmph rule again. An experiment carried out by officials to find out how much faster a vehicle arrived at its destination if it travelled at 150 km per hour as against 80 kmph has shown that the former arrived just 7 to 10 minutes before and that the slower vehicle virtually negated all possibility of fatal accidents and damage to the vehicles. Despite this, expressway drivers gave in to the thrill of driving faster.
Around 90 accidents occur on the expressway every month with three or four of them fatal. Around 50 cases of overspeeding and lane-cutting are detected every day.
"We are contemplating proposing a fine 10 times greater than the existing amount. Around 99 per cent of the accidents on the expressway are due to human error," said a senior official, who works on the daily management of the expressway.
Another senior official who observes traffic speed and minutely studies accidents on the expressway said none of the cars drove below 100 kmph. The official further pointed out that heavy vehicles and those driving at very slow speeds block the overtaking lane which is on the extreme right and close to the divider, thus increasing the possibility of mishaps. "If the speed of the vehicle is below 80 km per hour, there are no accident spots but if the speed is beyond the limit, then every spot on the expressway can be fatal," said an engineer closely working with traffic and maintenance wings of the expressway. As far as lane-cutting is concerned, experts said that since the arrangement of lanes on city highways and the expressway is exactly opposite (on the expressway heavy vehicles have to drive on the extreme left lane, while the extreme right lane is for overtaking. On city roads it is vice versa), several vehicles get confused, leading to accidents. "Awareness about traffic rules on the expressway has to grow," they added.
SOURCE: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Officials-contemplate-Rs-2000-fine/articleshow/7449190.cms#ixzz1DRA0UZkI
Officials say people are not bothered by the present Rs 200 fine. They pay it and then merrily zoom on their way, breaking the 80 kmph rule again. An experiment carried out by officials to find out how much faster a vehicle arrived at its destination if it travelled at 150 km per hour as against 80 kmph has shown that the former arrived just 7 to 10 minutes before and that the slower vehicle virtually negated all possibility of fatal accidents and damage to the vehicles. Despite this, expressway drivers gave in to the thrill of driving faster.
Around 90 accidents occur on the expressway every month with three or four of them fatal. Around 50 cases of overspeeding and lane-cutting are detected every day.
"We are contemplating proposing a fine 10 times greater than the existing amount. Around 99 per cent of the accidents on the expressway are due to human error," said a senior official, who works on the daily management of the expressway.
Another senior official who observes traffic speed and minutely studies accidents on the expressway said none of the cars drove below 100 kmph. The official further pointed out that heavy vehicles and those driving at very slow speeds block the overtaking lane which is on the extreme right and close to the divider, thus increasing the possibility of mishaps. "If the speed of the vehicle is below 80 km per hour, there are no accident spots but if the speed is beyond the limit, then every spot on the expressway can be fatal," said an engineer closely working with traffic and maintenance wings of the expressway. As far as lane-cutting is concerned, experts said that since the arrangement of lanes on city highways and the expressway is exactly opposite (on the expressway heavy vehicles have to drive on the extreme left lane, while the extreme right lane is for overtaking. On city roads it is vice versa), several vehicles get confused, leading to accidents. "Awareness about traffic rules on the expressway has to grow," they added.
SOURCE: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Officials-contemplate-Rs-2000-fine/articleshow/7449190.cms#ixzz1DRA0UZkI
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