[audioholic]

Originally Posted by SedateGuy

And Mr. G hits another one out of the park without any regard for ground realities and state of our highways and the different types of vehicles and travellers on them.

Mr. G not knowing ground reality is like telling Steve Jobs not knowing iPhone properly. How many expressways(not highway if you have misunderstood) have you driven on? What were the issues apart from poor driving which made you feel higher speeds were not suitable?

Here is the ground reality for you:




Perhaps you can understand where the two pictures are from.

[revvharder]

Originally Posted by audioholic

Mr. G not knowing ground reality is like telling Steve Jobs not knowing iPhone properly. How many expressways(not highway if you have misunderstood) have you driven on? What were the issues apart from poor driving which made you feel higher speeds were not suitable?

+1 to that, i am really impressed by the Expressways and Highways here in the North, Eastern & Western Peripheral Expressways already have a limit of 120kmph for a few stretches and the repair work is carried very promptly too and stupid drivers are a rare sight on these, i don't know why but that's the case.

[DicKy]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

"140 kmph speed limit" entering the thought process of the Minister shows his total lack of awareness of fuel consumption increases at high speeds.

Quoting from the US Department of Energy website, it speaks about fuel consumption at speeds above 75 kmph :-

Well if we look at our national vehicle fleet average, we might as well have a blanket speed limit of 65km/h considering the majority of white board vehicles on our roads have their optimum operating speed between 50-60km/h.

140km/h doesn't mean everyone must drive at 135-140km/h. Just that one or two of the rightmost lanes have an upper speed limit of 140km/h, given the road design allows so. Rest of the lanes may even have a lower speed limit or they can cruise at a lower efficient speed in the middle or left lanes. Those who try to travel at 120+km/h constantly will surely find out that they are not saving much time and that their sub 1500cc economy engines are more efficient at 80-100km/h than at higher speeds.

[Kosfactor]

For those who are alarmed by 140 kmph proposal on ' Indian' roads, allow me to tell you a secret please.

In practice there are no speed limits on our roads , it is completely self regulated by drivers based on road conditions, vehicle capability, their own confidence and need etc. Think about it, apart from small percentage of the roads that have a speed camera or a policeman standing with a radar gun, there is absolutely nothing regulatory that is holding us drivers back!

And yet as BHPian DicKy mentioned most drivers do not go anywhere near such speeds, even those who pay to enter an expressway drive at anything between 70-90, that is about it - Indians are modest that way.

In the early 2000s when I was studying in Coimbatore I was fortunate enough to drive on the best possible piece of tarmac outside of an airport - The L&T toll road or bypass, it has some unpleasant names too now thanks to several towns springing up on either side of that road in the next few decades. Now that road is too busy to be even called a highway in many places.

140 was safely possible back then as well.

[el lobo 6061]

After having driven on the Samruddhi Mahamarg from Shirdi-Nagpur which has a speed limit of 120 kmph; I believe 140 Kmph is easily doable without much stress. Originally highway was designed for a speed limit of 150 Kmph.

140 Kmph Speed Limit should be set for Highways which are access controlled.

You be surprised how fast distances are covered between cities.

People who like to drive slower as per their comfort, there were lanes marked at 100 Kmph limit as well.

[Tatvamasi]

Originally Posted by revvharder

+1 to that, i am really impressed by the Expressways and Highways here in the North, Eastern & Western Peripheral Expressways already have a limit of 120kmph for a few stretches and the repair work is carried very promptly too and stupid drivers are a rare sight on these, i don't know why but that's the case.

I have driven on EPE many times. The road is uneven at many places and there are frequent repair patches. One can drive there at 120+ but it isn’t as smooth as one would expect from an expressway. I experience frequent vertical oscillation on this expressway even when driving in a car like ecosport.

[Candy$Cars]

Eastern Peripheral Expressway is the absolute worst expressway i have ever driven on including the national highways in India. It is just so uneven, they have these culverts at too frequent intervals which causes the car to oscillate vertically.
They have fixed the limit at 120km/h because they know the road is so trash no one will be driving above 100 anyway. On the other hand, the yamuna and Taj expressways are butter smooth yet they have a 100km/h speed limit.