[KingKong]

This is a great and welcome move. A speed limit of 140km/h on expressways is great as it does not mean that traffic will always move that fast, it just means that when overtaking one can go up to 140km/h in the fast lane. If someone is driving a slow car then the driver can make a decision to travel only at 80km/h.
About the topic that roads are not good enough, the Mumbai-Pune, Yamuna, Ahmedabad-Baroda, Vijaywada-Hyderabad, Agra-Lucknow, Hyderabad Ring Road all are roads that have great surface quality and can manage 140km/h. The cars on the other hand might not be able to keep up with the speed but it can still move at 80km/h.

This is much better than having a speed limit of 80km/h on such roads.

Hope this does not end up in crashes and drivers realize their car's capabilities and don't push it over the limit.

[sgmuser]

One word "utter nonsense!". Where are on earth these guys live? Even with the super smooth roads this is not viable or safe in India. Our mentality needs to change in big way. Or completely fence the highways before you open them for 140kmph. This is a joke as I just returned from India. How many crossings without signals, hidden crossings, bends, pot holes in toll roads, oncoming traffic in highways without any warning signs, improperly guarded bridge works, I can go on and on. Trucks and Tata Aces occupying the highspeed lanes and we either caught behind them or in between them. We need to come up with highway a design to suit our conditions. Add bikes to this mess. We can not ignore them but their safety? Major metros mostly have two lanes connecting to their tier 2 cities. How come all these people going to survive in that two narrow lanes. 4 or 6 lanes are must for expressways with fencing and clean sensible exits, clear sign boards and zero crossing or signals, then extent the max speed to 140kmph. Not with this current mess please. Countries like Oman are reducing their top speeds even with world class road infrastructure. Then educate the drivers properly especially truck drivers as they are the struggling in the roads longer.

I lost interest in driving in India and completely lack confidence. Even in next 20 years this is not going to change. These guys should stop making these kinds of dangerous claims which gives wrong impressions that the days are all bloom and glorious. Surely better but not to this level.

[sramanat]

I doubt if he is earnest in his attempt to reduce commute times. Most of US has 60mph (states like Michigan have 70mph), Canada has 100kmph speed limits. As pointed out earlier in this thread, we don't need a higher speed limit. We need to find ways to improve the average speed. If you can maintain an average speed of 100kmph, there's nothing like it. A Bangalore-Chennai trip would be done in about 3.5 hours. Let's do the math for a 300km journey -
1. At steady 100kph, you can complete it in 3 hours.
2. At 140 kph, you can maintain that speed for about 50km max. Even if you did 100kph for the rest, you gain about 15-20 minutes.
which is not worth it IMO.
What hinders a steady speed of 100kph in our roads? Here's my list (not exhaustive by any means...)
1. Highways passing through cities (Mandya, Maddur etc. on BLR-Mysore road, Vellore, Ambur etc. on BLR-Chennai road...)
2. Slow moving trucks - honestly here is where we have the most scope for improvement. A couple of Leyland or Tata trucks (or Tata Ace kind of souped-up autos) that are loaded beyond capacity and climbing a gentle gradient at 20kph will add at least 30 minutes to your drive.
3. Access points to major highways from our cities - from where I live, it takes an hour at best to access highways to Mysore, TN, Mumbai etc. We keep building concentric ring roads around cities, but even before the land for the road could be acquired, developers would come up with high rises along the proposed road. It will be a miracle if you could do 75kph on such ring roads on inauguration day.
4. Highways by definition have to be "access controlled". How common is it for a moped or a tractor to come into the highway from adjoining dirt road?
5. Unsure drivers - how many of us (or family members) have gotten a driver's license waaaaaaaaaaaay before we could control the car?

[veyron_head]

I have no problems with capable cars maintaining such speeds. But imagine a car like Alto doing 130 just because they are entitled to such speeds. I have owned an alto k10 in the past. it was incredibly fast for its segment but had ridiculously poor brakes.

[Fastdriver]

It appears the minister is in favour of announcing anything in an irrational manner, first the horn sound fiasco, ethanol 20, fuel efficient vehicles and now this. Though personally I am in favour of increasing speed limits but the most important point is to maintain the roads in good condition at least which he fails. The Guwahati Shillong Road is in bad shape in some patches for example and it is for months (in such conditions).

[silverado]

The percentage of cars which can safely maintain such speed limits is low.
Above and over this, people with skills to maintain such speeds could also be few.

What they can do here is allow certain cars ONLY to attain such speeds.

[MangoMan]

As fellow bhpians mentioned in earlier posts, one is not required to hover around the maximum speed limit, rather at his honest ability to control the vehicle. I am not against the move to increase the speed limit, but my concern is the roads and people. Mr. Gadkari may start with improving road infrastructure by erecting proper sign boards for speed bumps, speed limit, diversion etc. Once these are installed then they can think of increasing the speed limit. However, we all know what is going to happen.

[MKD]

Accidents don't happen only because of speed. In most cases it's the difference in speed that creates the need for overtaking or slowing down. This adds to the risk of accidents. Intersections, speed breaker, animals or pedestrians crossing the road are other causes. Rather than increasing the speed limit, govt should work towards having all vehicles maintain similar speeds. I'd prefer an uniform 90kmph than 15 minutes of 140kmph followed by 40kmph behind a truck and then waiting 10 minutes at a toll booth jam.

All express way and national highways should have a lower speed limit defined and strictly implemented. Lanes should be marked with different speed limit (both upper and lower).

Though India now has many capable cars, the majority of the cars can't go beyond 100kmph safely. Rules must be set considering an average car, e.g. Swift and not a BMW.

In my opinion, 120kmph upper limit is good enough for Indian roads. What we need is a 80kmph lower speed limit with left lane marked 80-100 and right lane marked 100-120.

[mayukh42]

• Have lane-based speed limits, with minimum limit of 80 kmph on the fast lanes

• Confiscate the trucks that don't follow #1, or overload their capacity, because not just do they accelerate like a snail on a ramp, but they also dig trenches in the asphalt

• Make more highways access-controlled, with fences and barricades, which means plugging the unnecessary entry points of existing highways that are good enough rather than acquiring land for a completely new expressway

• Make flyovers and bypasses, and absolutely remove anything remotely resembling a speed breaker or unwanted traffic signals

• Ensure no truck is parked on the shoulders or left lane, after 100 meters from a toll booth or near a check post. Have truck bays like in MH or GJ borders

• Disallow two and three wheelers on access-controlled highways if there exists service roads, or if there are no dedicated biker lanes

• Continue to expand Fastags coverage, but also remove any exceptions to toll payments, including the President. Let the VIP or govt. employee reimburse the toll later but pay when going through

and of course, strict enforcement of the above that directly impacts one's insurance premiums (vehicle/ health both) or blue book value instead of spot fines,

will go a long way towards improving the "average" speed in the highways which is the only thing we need.

In my experience, the average speed turns out to be 50-60% of the allowed "safe" maximum speed that one takes (door to door timings), when pitstops and other random road events are also included. And this average speed is what governs how much distance we can drive comfortably, rather than that short 50 km stretch of a highway where we could drive at 120+.

[fhdowntheline]

This once again points to an aspect I have mentioned elsewhere. Where are the scientific advisors to a technical ministry like Road Transport ? Isn't it their job to study and then come up with a technical recommendation ? Why are we being subject to quixotic ideas like this ?
More than 80 % (roughly speaking) cars running in the country have not been tested for safety standards or have lower standards than the Global level. We still have overloaded lorries , tankers and small trucks carrying huge bales of hay or sugarcane up to 3 times their loading height plying at any moment across the country. There is scant regard amongst commuters for something as basic as a traffic signal or a helmet in a supposedly upmarket city like Pune which is a shameful blot upon its various monikers like "Vidyanagari" " Oxford of the East", "IT hub" and whatnot. Of course this isnt limited to Pune alone.
I am all for improving infrastructure and getting rid of archaic rules and regulations. But the change must be whollistic, meaningful and based on rigorous scientific review instead of picking any fancy idea.

[Dark water]

It's a welcome move, and to be frank it will lead to revenue loss for the government because overspeeding challans are an important part. Recently, a friend of mine was charged for overspeeding at 86 km/hrs while driving his wagonR cng, at a stretch of pune Bangalore highway where the limit was 80 km/hrs. The stretch is part of a national highway and golden quadrilateral, I think we are entitled to something better.
By the way the points raised by fellow members to bring in holistic changes is equally important as a scenario where I am cruising at 140 and there is a Buffalo sightseeing the Indian traffic or enjoying the coolness of Indian roads during the night would be a very hard to negotiate.

[akshay4587]

Originally Posted by MKD

In my opinion, 120kmph upper limit is good enough for Indian roads. What we need is a 80kmph lower speed limit with left lane marked 80-100 and right lane marked 100-120.

This is Already in Place on Western Peripheral Expressway around NCR.
Right most lane at 120, middle lane at 100 and the left most lane for slower traffic.

However the problem arises, when all three lanes are occupied by trucks doing 61/62/63km/hr, or that odd solo truck doing 60 comfortably in 120 lane.
This is the root cause of all the trouble we have on our roads, and no one has started to think about working towards this.

[pandabear]

Originally Posted by akshay4587

I really need to know, what on earth this guy smokes; first the Ambulance Siren to sound like Akashwani tune and then this

Extremely happy with what ever he smokes, starting from building the first expressway in India to where we are now with silky smooth expressways, we have indeed come a long way.

A quick trio down the memory lane and the horrible images of the weaving through single lane national highways, and government busses barrelling down on the wrong side of the road, just freezing in horror... well these were not so long ago.

Hope he continues his good job, we should look beyond media headlines.

[akshay4587]

Originally Posted by pandabear

Extremely happy with what ever he smokes, starting from building the first expressway in India to where we are now with silky smooth expressways, we have indeed come a long way.

A quick trio down the memory lane and the horrible images of the weaving through single lane national highways, and government busses barrelling down on the wrong side of the road, just freezing in horror... well these were not so long ago.

Hope he continues his good job, we should look beyond media headlines.

I do not know where you live, but all the highways around me are still the same, infact they have gotten worse over years

[pandabear]

Originally Posted by akshay4587

I do not know where you live, but all the highways around me are still the same, infact they have gotten worse over years

To each his opinion, either you are very young or I am just too old. I guess you get the drift. Cheers!