Speed limits to be increased - Up to 70 km/hr in cities & 120 km/hr on highways

[smartcat]

120 kmph on e-way: Higher speed limits to be unveiled soon
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india...JH7T1K5iI.html

Speed limits for passenger car will soon be increased to 120 km /hour from the existing 100 km/hour on expressways and to 100 km/hr from 80 km/hr on national highways, two senior road ministry officials familiar with the development said. The road ministry has also approved a uniform speed limit of 80km/hour for motorcycles on highways and expressways. For heavy vehicles (buses and trucks), the new speed limit prescribed is 100 km/hr on expressways, 90 km/hr on national highways and 60km/hour on roads within municipal limits.

Transport Ministry Increases Maximum Speed Limit For Cars in Urban Areas
http://www.india.com/news/india/unio...areas-2944442/

Passenger cars can now run at 70 km per hour. Cargo carriers can now run at 60 kmph, whereas two-wheelers’ speed is limited to 50 kmph. The increase in maximum speed limit was necessitated by growing infrastructure in most of the major cities– this includes the construction of ring roads and arterial stretches.

These increased speed limits could be changed on the discretion of state governments.

[Swapnil4585]

Certain questions come in my mind.

1. Will they install speed guns on roads to detect a breach of limit?

2. The E-ways would mostly be cement roads. Is it advisable to drive above 80-90 kph on cement roads in our kind of summers, considering that the tyres heat up more on cement turf?

3. Will this increase in speed limit not immune fast drivers (on old school two lane national highways) from safe driving?

4. Is it not prudent to first develop access controlled highways, than increasing speed limit?

5. Is it not prudent to ask vehicle manufacturers to manufacture vehicles with in-built cameras in order to inculcate a sense of accountable driving?

[theredliner]

Cargo carriers can now run at 60 kmph, whereas two-wheelers’ speed is limited to 50 kmph

I want to meet the pea-brained babu who came up with this stupid decision. Two wheelers are much safer if they travel at similar speeds as or a little higher than the other vehicles on the road. This is a sure-shot way of getting the riders killed as we have seen with BETL in Bengaluru.

Lesser speed than a cargo carrier? Seriously?

[vb-san]

This is good IMO, especially with the improvements in road infrastructure across the country.
But 100 km/hr on expressways, 90 km/hr on national highways for heavy vehicles quite high IMO.

[OrangeCar]

Classic case of hotch potch policy making. Borrow what is easy from the west, and dump what you cannot.

Developed countries have fantastic infrastructure, well planned expressways with clearly marked exits/entry points, patrolling police cars with lazer/radio based speed trackers, flashing lights, intense scrutiny while providing driving licenses (written/practical tests are not easy to crack!). All of these are put in place with so much thought.

Car manufacturers are regulated to provide high quality cars with adequate safety features. The economics there also makes auto makers not skimp on things like bigger wheels/wider tyres, additional airbags, ABS/EBS etc.

Added to all of these, the speed limits are legibly presented at frequent distances (of say every 1-2 miles), which you cannot miss. The boards are well maintained (and not faded away), scientifically thought through interms of font/size etc., and are at a height that is easily readable when you are driving.

Contrast this to India. Broken infrastructure. Inadequate and often silly legislation that car makers have to follow (sub 4m cars have duty exemptions, 200mm GC which is circumvent by manufacturers in ingenious ways). Overworked and under-payed cops, some of whom looking to make a quick buck, speed signs that only are visible if you are not looking at the road and only looking at the sky, etc.

Instead of focusing on fixing infrastructure and legislation with appropriate enforcement mechanisms, we have brand new speed limits!

We have a long way before we lose the tag of being the nation with highest road fatalities. Sadly.

And I wait for this decision to be marketed as development activity performed!

[That was quite a rant! ]

[Samir Taheer]

This is scary - IMO i think the previous speed limits were sufficient. Maybe open up the limit to 100 Km/Hr for private vehicles on the expressways, but that's about it!!

We do not have enough driver training/education to allow these speeds!

The overworked cabs and transport drivers are lethal already. With these additional speed allowances, they going to be even more deadly!!! Let me explain in two main points--

1) Exhaustion - Is going to set in faster. Driving at higher speeds requires higher concentration. Not just for your self but now you will have to avoid cars, buses, etc who are driving like the lunatics they were but faster!!

2) Reliability - Our commercial vehicles and cabs do not go through the vigorous fitness tests from aboard. Vehicles traveling at higher speeds will only increase the rate of Tyre burst, axle breaks, etc. In addition these are road blocks with vehicles approaching them at higher speeds.

Again - I think we should keep the old limits -- enforce them and then slowly increase limits once people are accustomed to them. This is only going to give India a chance to increase its records of accidents. How many heavy vehicles can actually stop in time for an emergency from the existing limits?

[sridhar24]

In my opinion i feel the current speed limits are safe enough for out kind of driving conditions and driving ethics of few road users. Government should actually look after the maintenance and upkeep of the infrastructure and strictly impose the safety measures rather than increasing the speed limits. First make these world class and and later look at increasing the limits, without educating the people and just increasing speed limits is just going to increase the number of accidents and road fatalities.

[Amey Kulkarni]

More than 20% increase in speed limits! The government should have played safe here and not encourage speed as a criteria in the masses.

Our infrastructure and maturity of traffic sense is not capable of handling of such speeds yet.

I really doubt if risk analysis has been done in this case as there are more cons than pros here.

Very simply, people don't even know the importance of a zebra crossing and its application.

The public carrier vehicles have no mandate to check and update their vehicle medical health before being run on road, people crossing highways as if they are taking a stroll in a park etc. are such disappointing incidences which can be fatal.

Cheers,
Amey

[i74js]

Development @ zero expenditure. Unless massive investment happens in transportation infrastructure and vehicles on road. This is criminal.

The domestic crash testing program (yet to be implemented) will take its first step in India and performance of vehicles on structural stability will get exposed unless manufacturers fix this issue beforehand.

The change in speed limit should have been the next step and not what the Government is proposing.

Is there any background information available in public domain as to what is the basis for increasing the speed by nearly 20% from present levels?

[Asish_VK]

Instead of increasing the speed limit now, Govt should've invested money and effort in enforcing lane discipline on our highways (at least the express highways).

What is the use of 120kph speed limit where the fast lane is occupied by a 41 kmph truck overtaking 40kmph truck on adjacent lane ? (Not to forget the numerous tractors / small bikes etc)

First install speed cameras and enforce proper speeds at designated lanes and give heavy fines for those who don't follow, once the system is in place, increasing the speed limit makes sense

My 2 cents

[ksameer1234]

Surprising to see everyone giving a thumbs down to this move. I rarely see even small cars like alto and kwid maintaining the speed limit of 80 kph on highways. I feel 80 kph limit on dual-carriageway is too low by modern car standards. The speed limit revision is actually a welcome move because now we have enforceable limits. There was never a point of having a speed limit which no one sticks to.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by ksameer1234

Surprising to see everyone giving a thumbs down to this move

Absolutely!

On another new thread about speed governers on bikes- just the exact opposite reaction is happening.

I totally welcome this move. Doesn't mean I'll do 120 kmph everywhere because our roads dont allow it - but when it does - I'm glad 120 is a good legal cruising speed in India.

[GeeTee TSI]

Originally Posted by ksameer1234

There was never a point of having a speed limit which no one sticks to.

I agree to this point. Low and unscientific speed limits notwithstanding (I have seen some flyovers on highways mentioning 35 km/hr speed limits), it also encouraged a culture of 'ignore the speed limit sign, it's decades old'. To quote a Corporate jargon, it was time the speed limits were 'rationalised'

This should be followed by instilling the fear of God if the revised speed limits are violated

[KiloAlpha]

I would agree with a 120kmph limit on controlled access highways that are fenced off.

However, in urban built-up areas, I have rarely seen speed limits above 60kmph anywhere in Europe (where the cities can get as badly congested and roads are sometimes as narrow). At best, speed limit was raised to 80kmph on certain specific stretches of roads - and these are invariably fenced-off highways passing through urban areas.
In conclusion, I disagree with the 70kmph limit in cities. Given the state of traffic in our cities, it should be pegged at 50kmph for all built-up areas.

Also, different speed limits for different classes of vehicles is silly. Everyone is safer when they are all traveling at more or less the same speed.

[Ragavsr]

Originally Posted by ksameer1234

Surprising to see everyone giving a thumbs down to this move. I rarely see even small cars like alto and kwid maintaining the speed limit of 80 kph on highways. I feel 80 kph limit on dual-carriageway is too low by modern car standards. The speed limit revision is actually a welcome move because now we have enforceable limits. There was never a point of having a speed limit which no one sticks to.

Looks like the NRI's are as usual in a preaching mode to the resident Indians.

Just because there is no fencing doesn't mean we should be driving at 40 kmph in 4/6 Lane or on even city roads.

Atleast 120 kmph or 100 kmph would provide a safe buffer to escape from the corrupt cops or the cameras that are planned at every place.

Looks like the central government has brought a acche din at least to speed limits

Most 4 Lane highways anywhere outside a 50 Km radius of Chennai can easily support a 120Kmph speed limit despite not being fenced because the state is primarily urban with a now scarce rural population. Leave alone the expressways.

Say drive from Tirunelveli to Kanyakumari, a 4 lane road, you will be lucky to encounter 10 vehicles overtaking you or you overtaking them.

Heck, the average speed on most 2 Lane roads is 100 kmph.