[virgopal]

Camera captures BMW zipping past Expressway at 174 km/hr

It's more than double the speed limit of 80 km/hr prescribed for the Pune-Mumbai Expressway; two-day experiment with single camera on ground fares hundred times better at detecting overspeeders than drones
It seems the authorities have a better chance of catching speed culprits on the Expressway if they have their eyes on the ground instead of in the skies. For, closedcircuit television (CCTV) cameras fixed along the Pune-Mumbai highway have shown to record a hundred times the number of offenders a couple of drone cameras let loose on the E-way around a week ago could detect.
On Wednesday, a CCTV camera captured a BMW (Registration no. MH14FG4070) speeding at 174 km/hr when the actual speed limit for the E-way is 80 km/hr. The car was registered at the Pimpri-Chinchwad Regional Transport Office.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/C...w/54163600.cms

[Axe77]

Honestly I feel instead of ONLY focussing on overspeeding, the police must focus on enforcing other acts like driving in the right most lane when not overtaking, lane cutting etc. These are all practices that equally contribute to e-way accidents.

If all these measures can be widely enforced and followed, top speeds should actually be revised to a more realistic 100/120 kmph.

[FORTified]

AND, why do they call it EXPRESS high way, if the speed limit is 80KMPH?
Isn't it too low, in the changed car scene?

Instead of just penalizing speedsters, looking for other culprits like drunken drivers, overloaded trucks, lane violators, out-of-shape vehicles etc., makes the roads more safer I guess.

Just assume yourself spending 60 lakhs to buy a BMW that you can not anyway drive in city traffic and you can hit a max of 80 KMPH on a empty high way. . You will be left with a bunch of gears in your gearbox that you never used.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by FORTified

AND, why do they call it EXPRESS high way, if the speed limit is 80KMPH?

It is very much an "Expressway" all throughout except few sections.

Isn't it too low, in the changed car scene?

On certain sections near Lonavala-Khanadala ghats & more, there are some really nasty bends like these which have been regular accident spots:

While speed limit of 80 KMPH indeed sounds ridiculous for the expressway if one looks at those lovely straights nearing Pune or after Khalapur to Panvel, The ghat section, tunnels and some very sharp (& fast for some) curves makes things dangerous for a first timer.

Not to forget the fact that during rains, if one is driving towards Mumbai, the concrete surface along with rain make matters worse as your don't really climb in that direction but are descending at most of these curves.

And while you are descending on these curves, you only begin to realize the "reducing radius" as you gain speeds and are under a wrong impression that you are under control on a wide 3+3 Lane highway - It is exactly here why one needs to be under 80 KMPH!

Apart from this, Poor lane discipline is another major reason for accidents here. In the past 15 years of its existence, I have only been noticing this road become more and more unfriendly which it wasn't earlier. You wouldn't find trucks or buses occupying the fast lane 6-8 years back and today its a routine.

Lastly, tire bursts make another good reason for few accidents too.

Before I forget, the tunnels also make things a bit tricky for novice and inexperienced drivers to negotiate sudden darkness or brightness and notice any slow or stationary vehicle and result in a collision.

Personally, after driving for more than 100 times on this expressway since 2006, I want the speed limit here to remain 80 KMPH not because the road is unsafe but mostly the drivers around us here really are.....!

[pixantz]

I remember when the EW was newer, that as far as I understood, the MINIMUM allowed speed was 80kmph. I even saw road signs which indicated the same. Now either something was mixed in my drink or these rules have changed later....

[vivek95]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

but mostly the drivers around us here really are.....!

I second you. Add to all the above, some accidents have happened on Mumbai--Pune Expressway right away at the toll plazas because some speedsters couldn't slow down in time even after noticing the toll plazas. They are so clearly visible from a far off distance and are well positioned on long straight sections but still it was difficult for many to control the horses. This seemed more ridiculous to me as I had never heard of vehicles rear-ending at the toll queues except MPEW. No wonder the authorities were time and again forced to enforce 80 limit.

Originally Posted by pixantz

I remember when the EW was newer, that as far as I understood, the MINIMUM allowed speed was 80kmph. I even saw road signs which indicated the same. Now either something was mixed in my drink or these rules have changed later....

Agree with you. I took the Mumbai--Pune Expressway first time in mid-2004 and vaguely remember seeing these boards. A general understanding as per hearsay back then was to maintain a minimum of 80. What I surely remember though is seeing the "120" speed limit sign boards. I think the changeover to 80 max happened within next 2 years or so. Since MPEW was the first 6 lane high speed acess controlled Expressway in the country back then and rest of NH4 was still u/c for 4 lanes, I was really amazed to see some boards on Expressway like - " Heavy vehicles keep left ", " Follow lane discipline " etc. I had seen such boards for the first time on any highway and used to tell about it to my friends, something like this - " Abbey, woh expressway pe lane discipline ke boards hain, wahan pe trucks ko sirf left side se jaana padta hain " ( Dude, you know there boards of Lane discipline on Expressway and trucks need to go from left ). What a joke it is now years down the line. Nevertheless, this piece of road still remains my most favourite.

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

It is very much an "Expressway" all throughout except few sections.

On certain sections near Lonavala-Khanadala ghats & more, there are some really nasty bends like these which have been regular accident spots:

While speed limit of 80 KMPH indeed sounds ridiculous for the expressway if one looks at those lovely straights nearing Pune or after Khalapur to Panvel, The ghat section, tunnels and some very sharp (& fast for some) curves makes things dangerous for a first timer.

And while you are descending on these curves, you only begin to realize the "reducing radius" as you gain speeds and are under a wrong impression that you are under control on a wide 3+3 Lane highway - It is exactly here why one needs to be under 80 KMPH!

The speed limit is not a constant 80 kmph on all sections. It is much lower on the ghats (maybe even 30 - 40 kmph on some bits I don't recall exactly).

For those asking for a higher limit, I believe it should be on the straights, not ghats. A differential limit is the current norm and also understandable.

While I do feel it should be higher, I do agree it is highly theoretical and aspirational in today's reality. Driving styles have to improve exponentially before we see the higher limits like 100 / 120 kmph that even I would like.

Having said that, even at current speed limits, it is imperative that they take on other violations on a war footing, lane discipline to me is a HUGE priority to that end.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Axe77

The speed limit is not a constant 80 kmph on all sections. It is much lower on the ghats (maybe even 30 - 40 kmph on some bits I don't recall exactly).

Of course. I have seen signage where speed limits are lower, especially on ghats and towards Mumbai but that is not the whole point here.

The fact is that drivers dont care with these limits as they they are supposed to drive fast on the entire stretch (That impression)!

For those asking for a higher limit, I believe it should be on the straights, not ghats. A differential limit is the current norm and also understandable.

Exactly but then how many will really care to look at the change in speed limit right on those curves or ghats and slow down and drive accordingly? In our country, speed limit signs/Warning signs are waste of metal and effort to install them.

While I do feel it should be higher, I do agree it is highly theoretical and aspirational in today's reality. Driving styles have to improve exponentially before we see the higher limits like 100 / 120 kmph that even I would like.

And with a variety of vehicles on the expressway where even a Nano and an Alto can belt at 110 (and beyond), not to forget that these days Mahindra Navistars, Tempo Travellers, MAN and Bharat Benz Trucks easily cruise at 100 KMPH, it is controlling these vehicles under rough conditions which will result in bad accidents and that has always been the case.

lane discipline to me is a HUGE priority to that end.

Absolutely. If they can impart lane discipline & ensure overtaking happens only from right, they can bring down a lot of accidents here.

[braindead]

I use this expressway fairly regularly. I have never felt unsafe because of someone passing me at 150 kph. However almost all the risky situations I have found myself in were due to bad lane discipline. Either someone driving too slow in the right lane causing everyone else to find their way around him, or reckless and impatient lane changing.

Enforcing the limit of 80 is ridiculous! A lot of cars don't even get to top gear at 80. Speed limits in parts of the ghat are a silly 30 kph as well. Everyone safely drives through those bends at twice that speed - weather and traffic permitting. Sensible speed limits will surely help in compliance, because the present ones are laughable.

The probable solution separate limits for cars and heavy vehicles. That's not very hard to implement.

[vivek95]

Originally Posted by braindead

I use this expressway fairly regularly. I have never felt unsafe because of someone passing me at 150 kph. However almost all the risky situations I have found myself in were due to bad lane discipline. Either someone driving too slow in the right lane causing everyone else to find their way around him, or reckless and impatient lane changing.

Enforcing the limit of 80 is ridiculous! A lot of cars don't even get to top gear at 80. Speed limits in parts of the ghat are a silly 30 kph as well. Everyone safely drives through those bends at twice that speed - weather and traffic permitting. Sensible speed limits will surely help in compliance, because the present ones are laughable.

The probable solution separate limits for cars and heavy vehicles. That's not very hard to implement.

80 seems ridiculous for LCVs and Volvo busses for sure, but it has become inevitable for many reasons as mentioned earlier. The 30kmph signages especially in the ghats are mainly put, keeping in mind the heavy trailers, truckers etc, not exactly for cars. Truckers used to often ( and still do ) misjudge the gradients and twists on the ghats that result in jumping over the medians and landing on opposite carriageway. I too am an Expressway regular and if you have observed that some truckers deliberately keep constantly braking all the way from the ghat till its foothills until they hit a straight patch. Probably they are regular truckers on the expressway and have realised how dangerous it is to let loose their loaded trucks even at 50kmph on the slopes. But not everyone does that. Many incidents even today where we come across trailers jumping medians over the turns in ghats at mere 50kmph or so.

Having said all this, I know no single car will stick to 80 limit on E-way, even the most sedate driver. No problem doing 100 here on certain sections with due caution exercised on ghats ( bringing speeds down accordingly )

[sukhoi30]

This was in news yesterday ..

On Wednesday, a CCTV camera captured a BMW (Registration no. MH14FG4070) speeding at 174 km/hr when the actual speed limit for the E-way is 80 km/hr. The car was registered at the Pimpri-Chinchwad Regional Transport Office.
(...)
"It was a trial to check the performance of the CCTV cameras on the E-way. Through this trial, we wanted to check how useful these cameras can be in terms of capturing overspeeding, lane cutting vehicles and other traffic violations on the highway. The trial was carried out at the Malavli area," superintendent of police (highway) Amol Tambe told Pune Mirror.

Source

174kmph seem really high for a car on this expressway. On the other hand 80kmph for a BMW seem awfully low. They should have different speed limits for different types of vehicles. Not easy to implement but at least segregate speed limits for heavy vehicles, transport vehicles, passenger vehicles, light vehicles etc.

[GTO]

Thanks for sharing, Virgopal! Moved your post into a new thread.

[Shreyans_Jain]

Having the speed limit at 80kmph on an 'Expressway' and then challan-ing for overspeeding is just rigging the system to make easy money for the cops. Alas, this is one of those things where they are just doing their job and you really cant fault them for that. Plus, it is easier to coax money out of people like us driving our own cars than truck drivers on a daily wage. Generates the right kind of publicity (for them) too.

What is required is implementation of lane driving and having realistic maximum and minimum speed limits. Doing 40kmph in the fast lane is more dangerous than doing 120kmph in the fast lane.

[karan561]

The sad thing about expressway speed limit is that 80 km/h is the fixed speed almost through out the entire route. Some arrow straight patches deserve the speed limit of 120 km/h. Where as in some patches around ghat 80 km/h is a fairly good speed to maintain.

They should also start a fine for people who are constantly in the top lane and dont use it as an over taking lane (the way it should). For them the mentality is that if they are in top lane they will reach faster

On a lighter note its a proud feeling that a BMW was caught overspeeding at such speeds & not a Merc or an Audi

[Hayek]

175 on the Expressway is scary - mainly because there are trucks plying at 30 or even stationary on the Expressway. So we can't have autobahn type "no limits." But a sensible limit (100-110)+ strict enforcement with a points system is needed. A limit that everyone breaks is no limit at all and creates a general tendency to break the law.