[sarathlal]

On any unfamiliar road, unmarked and unscientific speed breakers and humps are often the cause of many accidents as this catch the drivers by surprise.
Not to mention the heart wrenching scenarios of those underbelly scrapes due to the 'hill' type humps.

Almost couple of years ago, a division bench of the Kerala High Court had even ordered the removal of all speed breakers placed on the National Highways, State Highways and other roads in the Kerala State.

Yesterday, the Hindu had published stating that Kerala State Public Works Department (PWD) will standardise speed breakers and humps in roads maintained by it to ensure that these conformed to the prescribed safety standards. This will be a very welcome news as we can now drive without fearing for that hump which can sprout out of nowhere along a good road.

The guidelines were issued by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to State PWDs.

• Speed breakers and humps shall not be generally installed on State highways and main district roads.
• It could be made of either bitumen mix or concrete.
• Ready-made rubber speed breakers/ humps should be installed only at places where the speed would be less than 25 km per hour.
• Retro reflective road marking paint to be used to make the markings visible.
• Retro reflective warning sign, 'Hump Ahead' to be provided 40 metres ahead.
• One row of uni directional raised pavement marker, road studs, at a spacing of 500 mm, to be provided on both sides of the hump.
• Install rumble strips with thermoplastic paint ahead of speed breakers and humps as a mechanism to alert motorists.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper...cle5691934.ece

[wilful]

This would be a very good thing for motorists when implemented. But why is it that I have this nagging, cynical thought that this will not be implemented?
There are ever so many unscientific bumps on some state highways, near schools, places of worship etc - and I feel this would be another of those intentions that would just vanish without a trace in the forthcoming months. Love to be proven wrong though.

[e2p]

This is a very welcome news indeed and will be a boon for all of us using the roads in Kerala.

My drives are usually TVM-CLT on the highway but some streches are wide, some narrow, some curved and one toll way is there for a little bit of spirited driving. Also to add to that there are motorists who take highways as 'my way's. So altogether the journey is a fun ride.

Therefore it would be good to standardize the roads, especially the highways, as a whole.

[alpha1]

I think the problem is not with the govt installed speed breakers but the local colony/society "authorities"/bungalow owners who feel justified in placing obnoxious shaped speed breakers near their abodes.

[roy_libran]

Very welcome news. I'd love to see this expanded throughout the country and implemented effectively.

[mahesh_sn]

Originally Posted by alpha1

I think the problem is not with the govt installed speed breakers but the local colony/society "authorities"/bungalow owners who feel justified in placing obnoxious shaped speed breakers near their abodes.

Nope, the problem is with all speed breakers whether built by government or localites, at least here in Mumbai. These speedbreakers are built at the whims of the contractors with no regard to rules and guidelines issued by government agencies. Sadly, even RTO or PWD do not bother to enforce the rules.

Originally Posted by roy_libran

Very welcome news. I'd love to see this expanded throughout the country and implemented effectively.

+1 to that. Recently Chennai Municipal Corporation had decided to standardize the speed breakers in the city. Related news in link below.

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/14010...-breakers-come

A related thread: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...breaker-2.html (Ideal dimensions of a Speed Breaker)