[phamilyman]

This is stupidity. Limiting vehicle speeds to 80kph will solve only one part of the issue.

Firstly, this will lead to a cottage industry devoted to bypassing this limit and setting it back for the fitness test. Yay, for more jobs created for budding entrepreneurs.

Secondly, someone who drives like an idiot can still be lethal at 80kph. Worse, now they will always try and drive at 80 kph to "make up" for the extra time wasted by not going faster on the highway. That only makes our inner city routes MORE unsafe!

lastly, what is really required is sensible technology, not a decree. Here's an idea that builds on Overlander's post. e.g I'm sure Uber and Ola have the exact meter by meter data on how their drivers drive. The government should instead push them to make this data open source (sans any identification) and run a hackathon or an open prize for researchers that can create an app that helps judge how good or bad a driver is. Insurance companies overseas are already using telematics sensibly (http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...-snapshot.html).

The government should instead set up clear incentives and punishment:
- Best driven vehicles get road tax waived off
- Rowdiest vehicles get hit with massive penalties
- Audit software can be installed in toll plazas or major junctions to ensure these cabs actually have the telemetry device installed on board
- Audit software can be installed on a few traffic police vehicles as well to enable them to do spot checks

This is just one idea - I'm sure there are other ways technology can be sensibly leveraged, not by such lip service decrees.

[tilt]

Originally Posted by rbp1988

Personally, I feel the biggest gain from this is going to be reducing the 'overtaking from the left' syndrome on highways. The amount of times you get honked at or headlight flashed while doing the speed limit on highways is insane!

Pardon me for asking this (and for going off topic), but what are you doing in the Right-lane anyway? You're not supposed to be in that lane unless you're overtaking a slower vehicle.

If someone faster than you asks to overtake you (by honking or flashing their lights) you need to move over as quickly as it's safe to do so and let that person overtake you. If you do not do so, they have no option but to overtake you on your Left.

Agreed, you might be doing the legal speed-limit and they might be breaking the limit; but it's not your job to police people or enforce the law. In many cases it's not even safe for you to do so. These kind of things lead to road-rage; and may lead to dire consequences for you.

It's your job to be safe and let the law handle the law-breakers.

Cheers

[Sankar]

If anyone has seen the way yellowboard old Innovas are being driven on our two lane highways they will wholeheartedly welcome the move. These vans with 110BHP and around 200NM torque is enough to be deadly on our 2 lane highway. Now give these drivers the Innova Crysta (2.4 MT) with 150BHP and 350NM torque and they will fully utilize its power. No questions about it. Personally I feel 80KPH is "just right" for the KL highways for any yellowboard. Yellowboard is public transport so thats enough.

[Ragavsr]

Originally Posted by Sankar

Personally I feel 80KPH is "just right" for the KL highways for any yellowboard. Yellowboard is public transport so thats enough.

This blanket limit of 80 might be okay in Kerala but is bad in TN where there are posted limits of even 120 on the new outer ring road.

Even in the few 4 lane roads in Kerala , 80 is quite low and irritating to drive and it's a pain that they don't update the limits when the road is 4 laned.

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by Ragavsr

This blanket limit of 80 might be okay in Kerala but is bad in TN where there are posted limits of even 120 on the new outer ring road.

Even in the few 4 lane roads in Kerala , 80 is quite low and irritating to drive and it's a pain that they don't update the limits when the road is 4 laned.

I agree that 80KPH is too low a limit on 4 lane sections especially in TN. But if I am an operator I would not mind because of low accident risk and better fuel economy. Sitting on open highway at 80KPH let the driver handle it and he is getting paid for that. As far as I am concerned the passengers would be safer, safer for the vehicle, better FE, lower wear and tear (tyres-brakes), and no speeding tickets. This will also cut down drivers speeding empty on the return leg after dropping off the passengers. Only downside I see is travel times could increase.

I had a Vento which i was planning to put for taxi usage, and for that purpose I was planning to limit its max speed to 100KPH (easy using VCDS). But the plan was shelved and I sold the car.

Owner cum driver of such yellowboard vehicles are a displeased lot now, because its their own vehicle and they can't fully enjoy the power of the new Innova. But this category will soon find a (illegal) fix for this.

[Biohazard]

Originally Posted by Overlander

[*]What if it's required for a patient that needs to be rushed to a nearby hospital? We all know how our Ambulances are logged amidst urban traffic a lot of time.

80kmph is by no means slow. I'm not sure how safely once can transport a patient to a hospital by driving at triple digit speeds in urban traffic.

[*]What if the car passes a site of accident? There may be patients required to be ferried.

Same point as above.

[*]How about an unfortunate terrorism activity? The driver is not permitted to drive away as fast as he can?

While this can be an issue, it is an extremely rare scenario. It is much more likely that driving excessively fast will cause far more damage than sporadic acts of terrorism.

[*]The last time I heard, there are a couple of well laid highways up North where the speed limit is in 3 digits.

True. And we're all aware how people who can't handle the cars at high speeds tend to drive on wide, open highways. I don't want to generalize here, but cab drivers are amongst the worst when it comes to reckless driving. Of course, there are plenty of private car owners who're as bad, if not worse, but we've got to start somewhere.

[*]The driver may be called in for an emergency at home. What should stop him from reaching there as fast as he can.

I don't see how driving at sustained speeds over 80kmph is going to help much. It's likely to endanger more lives on the road. In emergency situations, it may make more sense to call up someone who stays closer to their home and ask them to help out till the driver reaches.

[humyum]

So foolish, these people have no brains at all I tell you, let me list down why

1) A taxi is overtaking a truck on a single lane highway, he starts the overtake, the road takes a slight downhill and the truck touches 80, the taxi touches 80 and he can't overtake and is just next to the truck, he ends up being in a head on crash situation, why? because some idiot thought 80 kmph should be the speed limit.

2) Why 80 is too slow? India has moved on from what India was 10 years back, Highways are fantastic, roads are 4 lanes at many places, even in the early 2000's or even late 90's, Maruti 800's and Alto 800's could do 100 and 100+ easily, and now you are making a 76 bhp, 190 nm torque diesel car speed limited to 80? Sheesh

3) Anyone who is dumb will crash at 60, 80 too, why enforce it with an iron curtain to 80?

4) Someone has an emergency in a car, the driver can't do anything but drive at 80.

[ssambyal1980]

Originally Posted by vikash49

Spotted this brand new Maruti Dzire Tour S at the local accessories shop and noticed this sticker prominently placed on the passenger door!

The owner of the car (who runs a small fleet of tourist taxis) was also present there, and he confirmed that all three cars that he had bought in the last week were speed limited to 80kmph. He had personally tried to take one over 80kmph and it couldn’t cross this speed limit in any gear!

Is this legit? And more importantly, is this even practical as interstate tourist taxis like this one need to travel long distances on State & National highway?

This is a surprising revelation, although speed governors is not a new concept on commercial vehicles. From Taxi fleet point of view this is definitely a step in right direction as most of the taxi drivers don't care two hoots about speed limits and hence are a potential threat to other road users. Its not uncommon to see cabbies overtaking from the left side at break neck speeds. Such kind of foolhardy behaviour on their part has resulted in many fatal rear end collisions with stationary vehicles during night time. This move will also give a lot of peace of mind to the passengers who have to spend anxious moments while being ferried by irresponsible drivers. But nonetheless in today's era of four/six lane highways, limiting the speed to 80 km/h is not at all practical, a limit of at least 100 km/h would be better. Also it should not be forgotten that all the safety measures taken either voluntarily or forcefully are bound to be useless unless the person behind the wheels is properly sensitized about advantages of safe driving and perils of rash driving. And to add to that there is an immediate need for a total crackdown on making of fake driving licenses, which is the root cause irresponsible driving behaviour leading to mishaps. Its high time that the entire driving licensing procedure is overhauled and is restructured on the lines of protocols followed in developed countries

[sumeethaldankar]

Coming from Mumbai 80 kmph is fair enough top speed. Higher the speed more the chance of error and less safer. Cabs are meant for transportation and quite frankly in Mumbai atleast 80kmph is good enough for most people. You can barely manage to reach such speeds unless you driving late at night. I don't see why cabs need to go faster than 80. Most people do not buckle up and would you be really comfortable if the cab driver you are sitting with decides to touch 100 kmph. I think the speed cap is justified considering most cabbies think they are Rally drivers. Many cabs have stickers on them stating something like "Super Fast Express" etc. Just put yourself in the passenger shoes and think would you trust your life in the hands of some random driver when you are sitting in a cab knowing he will be touching 100 kmph now and then. I rather be slow than sorry when it comes to putting my life in the hands of another unknown driver.

[400notout]

Though it sounds nice I don't know how this would help. The risk of a speed depends on the roads. In narrow lanes even 40 kph can be dangerous on open freeways 80kph could feel very slow. Unless driving at night, such speeds are not possible to attain in city driving conditions. This will mostly affect inter city routes. What about the cabbies who have cabs before this order was passed? Is every cab going to be recalled to have this measure in place? To the people supporting this one simple question, would you like to see this in private cars too? Who decided a private car driver more responsible than a cabbie? It sounds right as long as it happens with someone else. Shadenfreude at best.

[phamilyman]

Guys,

The point is that 80 is not a magic wand to avoid accidents. 80 is insane if done in a residential area. We need to think of the right solution rather than the typical third world "atleast it's something".

I would also like to call out the hidden superiority complex at play here. There are endless posts about BHPians driving in triple digits and yet we think that ALL yellow board drivers are unable to handle the same speeds we do, regularly.

That said, I must commend Uber. They have introduced a "nudge" system whereby an audible and visible alarm notifies the driver when the car is driven above (I think) 75 kph. This is brilliant. I'm sure this itself checks the driver's tendency to speed a fair bit. Kudos to them on being proactive.



PS: the driver's view was not obstructed for this picture. I clicked the photo from the side and straightened it in CamScanner.
PPS: This speed was done on Gurgaon expressway, on a safe / empty section, and on my request so I could click the photo. The driver was mortified of this feature and simply drove at a speed that the beeps ceased. Hence I liked this feature.

[Steeroid]

Whilst back home on vacation last month, I had taken my bike (RD) to the auto electrician to reset the timing.

The man has an new exclusive and steady revenue-stream from brand new two-wheelers who come in to get their Always-On headlamps turned off. He has hired 2 additional hands just to keep up with the rush - apparently most of those that come in seem to think that their fuel efficiency is impacted by the AOH feature

So much for regulation. This is India - eventually, everyone will do as they please and the enterprising will make money out of helping them.

[Sankar]

Point is yellow board taxi vehicles are vehicles for hire. Hired to ferry passengers. I as a passenger don't want to find out the skill level of the (unknown) driver the hard way. Also why limit it to the skill level of the driver, what about the condition of the vehicle? Mechanical condition of these money making machines (taxi cars) are an unknown - tyres, brakes, suspension et al and was it involved in a crash and was it fixed properly; seatbelts do they function etc etc. Not all taxis are new and in top condition. Many even get fixed outside the network even in the case of crashes. Was the seatbelts, airbags etc. replaced and was the repair work done properly, who knows? Worst case even total loss vehicles are bought, repaired and put to use as taxis by small time operators.

I do not like to travel fast in an unknown vehicle or with an unknown driver, doesn't matter if it is an yellow board or a white board.

Originally Posted by Steeroid

So much for regulation. This is India - eventually, everyone will do as they please and the enterprising will make money out of helping them.

I can already see a blooming business of speed limit de-restriction. Those who don't need remaps can just get the vmax lifted for a fee. Makes good business sense for re-mappers.

[libranof1987]

I actually support this speed limitation and am a little surprised with the amount of criticism on it!

Most CVs already have something similar, with a bunch of state transport corporations enforcing a factory-fitted speed limiter device on new buses. So, this is not a first. And from what I recall, most people have appreciated this move on CVs given how they are dangerously driven.

So, why is the reaction different for a cab?

On the face of it, I'm sure all of us agree that 80 kmph on Indian roads is a respectable speed; it is not by any means, slow. And anything in the region of triple digits is not safe anyway.

Sure, the road infrastructure has changed drastically for the better, but the idiots who use it haven't.

And as far as "what if driver needs to speed in an emergency" argument goes, I'd rather be in a cab that's at 80 kmph and get me somewhere a few minutes late than be driven around much faster and potentially have an emergency of my own.

[ashis89]

Is this applicable for all the commercial vehicles? What about the old ones already plying on the road?

I am wondering what would be impact long distance bus operators (with Volvo and the likes)? They maintain three-digit speeds to reduce the effective journey time? Are the bus journeys going to be longer?

I am not complaining at all. The roads are going to be a safer place with a portion of the traffic being forced to maintain normal speeds.