[pjay_in]

I was recently caught overspeeding in Kerala, on a great ripper of a stretch between Ottappalam and Palakkad, and had to pay 300 bucks(got a receipt). They were waiting in ambush in the middle of that long stretch which had virtually no traffic (where most drivers would be tempted to leg it), with a Tavera parked off the road, equipped with a speedgun on a tripod, a laptop and the works.

The recorded speed was 87 kmph. 87!

They told me that though 70 was the limit, they stop people only if they go above 80. If you touch 100, the fine would go upto 1000 bucks. And this rule applied to the entire state.

I thought that getting a ticket for touching 87 on a ripper surface was plain ridiculous.

And I don't want to believe that in expressways such as the GQ one can't go at higher speeds.

So guys, what is the legally permissible speed limit on our national and state highways? I know some of you guys rip it off at 150+ and boast of the same in our forums. What is in fact legal in our country?

[MX6]

Every road has it's own speed limit in our country. But none is posted clearly, except for some stretches of E-Ways and some parts of GQ.
I guess the authorities post clear speed limits at good frequencies on all roads before training their speed guns on motorists, unless the driver is going too very fast.
To start with, most of the GQ, the speed limit is assumed to be 80. The Mumbai pune e-way is 80 with parts of it going down to 30 kmph.
It is illegal to penalise you for speeding when there's no board mentioning the speed limit in that section of the highway where you were caught. Sadly we are in a country where collection starts even before facilities are extended.

[rjstyles69]

Its plain funny that our cops expect us to drive slow on open and well laid roads with minimum traffic. Wonder whats wrong with the system these days. They are least bit interested in catching hold of offenders within the city who cut lanes and drive dangerously. I have seen cabs doing 70+ within city limits and none of these fellas are caught.

I was once pulled over in the Mandya -Mysore stretch in the afternoon traffic was almost nil . My speedo was hovering at 90+ and was fined 300 bucks for the same. As stated by the cops the speed limit is 80kmph. I was a little zapped and taken aback for the fact that our cops don't stop private and KSRTC buses doing 90+ whereas the common man is fined.
I never tried reasoning with them and paid the fine. Even asked the cop where is the speed-limit boards and he simply pointed towards the road leading to mysore and said its put up there. I for once have never seen it at-least in this stretch.

And I don't want to believe that in expressways such as the GQ one can't go at higher speeds.

I can only say , keep your eyes wide open. You find the interceptor simply slow down . I have seen KSRTC buses doing 100+ and they are never pulled over/fined.

So guys, what is the legally permissible speed limit on our national and state highways? I know some of you guys rip it off at 150+ and boast of the same in our forums. What is in fact legal in our country?

Best is to stick to 80 and live with the system. I don't want to sound like a saint, I too gun my SUV whenever I get a chance .

[sgiitk]

I think the overall limit in India was raised recently from 60kph to 80kph (may be it was 70 by your experience). All over the world there is an informal grey area of 10-15 (kph/mph depending). But if the catch you then it is the whole hog.

[Bigzero]

Well, I did the Hyderabad -Bangalore stretch recently and I remember seeing speed limit boards here and there, some showing 80 and some showing 100. I will be doing the stretch again in a couple of weeks, will look out for them and confirm.

[raghu230506]

Hi All,

I was about to start a thread, last weekend I was coming back from Hyderabad. I know about the interceptors till Airport and hence steadily maintained a speed of 80 as I already paid fine/s earlier.

Once I connected to outer ring road, before the series of signals start I pushed the car to 70 and there you go I was caught and had to shed 300 as speed limit being 60, I arugued with them it's not fair to have the check just before the traffic maheim starts in Bangalore. But you know the answer from them.

Meanwhile a BBMP car was caught, but traffic police let them go. I asked the same question. but still the SI was reluctant and said I pay now they would send a ticket to home and the same they would do even for BBMP vehicle :-)

Is it fair to check the speed limits in the stretch which is less than a km and throw a fine on us?

I see whole bunch of cabies driving
> as if it's a play ground and no one catches them.

[yzfrj]

My bro got nabbed last sunday for doing 79Km/Hr at 1:00 pm (OMR, Chennai)

Its a toll road and the so called IT Highway.

Cops said the "legal" limit is 40Km/Hr (they got to be kidding...!)
Its got to do something with extending the city limit.

300/- is the fine, will given receipt and all. Road was deserted and cops got an unrestricted view. They did catch bike and other cars. doing 6X km/hr too.

As usual the Government Buses are flying and no one really cares.
Not to forget the tom/dick/harry party member with flags on the hood.
Who is gonna fine them ?

Nuts I'd say. Always after the "common" man.

[fine69]

The speed limit on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway has been raised to 90 kmph effective 20 May'10. I guess the most out of what has been mentioned in the thread.

[blackasta]

A bit OT - but I have a great story to tell.

One friend of mine was happily driving at 60 -65 mph on the interstate. Upon seeing other cars zoom past him, he upped his speed and was travelling at 75 - when suddenly 'mamu' (ya thats what desis call police in US) showed his 'colors' and stopped my friend.

officer - You were speeding...

friend - Yes I was a bit over the speed limit, but everyone is driving at around 75!

officer (after a couple of seconds) - Do you ever watch discovery channel or animal planet?

friend - (bemused) yes - time to time.

officer - every deer runs for its life, but the lion catches only one !!!

My friend was like !!

He did not say a single thing, and quietly accepted the ticket.

Concrete justification from the cop I must say

[Iluvcars]

This story has been going around in different versions such as lion-deer-hunting fishing-but-not-all-the-fish-in-the-pond etc. I really wonder if any cop would speak like that for their conversations are recorded (I was given to believe).

[Anand123]

I think the speed limit is 40kmph at City and 70kmph at highways.
I was once caught at a highway and my speed reported was 93kmph. They told me that the limit is 70kmph.

[Cyrus43]

I hada very funny incident once. I was doing good speeds down marine drive in a rusty old blue Fiat. Obviously, the car wasnt stock mechanically, armed with things like a nice freeflow etc. Coming back, I was doing somewhere close to a hundred. So I stop at a Signal and a cop pulls p next to me and asks me to pull over by the side of the road. So first he goes around the car and asks me for papers. So I show them to him. The nhe says that as I have fitted a "muffler silencer" (in his own words) I have to pay a fine of 500 rupees. So I started laughing and told him the exhaust is original and he can look underneath the car if he wants to. Then, he said, You were speeding. So I asked him how fast I was going. So he looks at me and says more than 120. So I smile at him and say, You are not getting any money from me, so stop wasting my time. Fiats cannot do 120 (little does he know!!) So then he got frustrated and just left!

[Ranjan Sharma]

Speed limit on Indian roads depends on your vehicle. If your vehicle can go at 200KMPH then that's the speed limit

[blackasta]

Originally Posted by Iluvcars

This story has been going around in different versions such as lion-deer-hunting fishing-but-not-all-the-fish-in-the-pond etc. I really wonder if any cop would speak like that for their conversations are recorded (I was given to believe).

This was experienced by me first hand as told by my friend as it happened to him. I think he was serious - but you never know!

[aargee]

Originally Posted by Ranjan Sharma

Speed limit on Indian roads depends on your vehicle. If your vehicle can go at 200KMPH then that's the speed limit

sounds funny, but this is the sad truth also. There're some extremes that I shouldn't be documenting, but let me share few things that are illegal & barely accepted.

Every day I travel about 35 Kms one way to office that comprises about 15 Kms on NH, around 10 on SH, around 5 in city & the remaining on express highway. My travel time is usually around 7ish in the morning & 4ish in the evening.

I find the very less traffic during these time and thanks to Sun God. I can easily, trust me, very easily clock 60 on a two-wheeler within city & much more on few stretches on state highway. So I usually tend to keep a steady speed of 70 Kmph. I follow every aspect of rules (lane discipline, signal, pedestrian cross & what not) on the road except the speed limit.

Few days back I was cursing myself for this overspeeding & decided I will restrict to 40 on the left most lane & that lead to an amazing lesson. None of the vehicles travel in 40, I found every vehicle, except the loaded trucks & govt trucks (not even the govt busses) less than or equal to 40. If the two-wheelers had two wings, they would start flying & this is irrespective of the age-group. That provoked me 2 questions
1. Why not increase the speed limit?
2. If Germany boasts that they don't have speed limits on their highway, then this is the country where every single paved road is a free-way. Now beat that!!!