Vrooming in uneven speed limits

The increasing number of road accidents in Delhi are not the result of over-speeding and rash driving alone. Lack of proper signage; varying speed limits for different category of vehicles on the same road; absence of clearly demarcated lanes and lane-changing zones, and the deadly cocktail of slow-moving vehicles such autos, and fast-paced cars add to the traffic hazards faced by commuters in the city.
The lack of proper traffic management leads to thousands of minor accidents, besides, over 1,500 fatal accidents each year. “Delhi does not have clear road signs to help the drivers navigate through the city. Also, slow-moving vehicles are pushed into bus lanes which is highly dangerous, forcing two-wheelers to zig-zag between deadly Bluelines, ” says Chand Nigam, a frequent traveller who finds the contrast between the traffic management in developed countries and India’s capital city quite appalling..

Speed limit
On most of the roads, the speed limit for light moving vehicles (LMVs) is 50 kmph and for heavily vehicles it is 40 kmph. But the Delhi police only collect challan after vehicles cross the 60 kmph mark. The traffic police are silent on issues like how drivers should change lanes. “How can a bus travelling at 40 kmph go to the right lane to take a right turn when the speed limit for cars is 50 kmph?” questions Vipul, a commuter.
“If one changes lane at a faster speed than permitted, he is booked for overspeeding and fined. Even if we do have lane changing zones in Delhi, I have not seen any till date,” said a traffic policeman near Mayur Vihar.
When asked about how a car from NH 24 could go left from Nizamuddin crossing with buses on the left, in the absence of lane changing zone, a traffic official replied, “It is a driver’s personal responsibility to be cautious on turns. One should go slow as all vehicles move at different speed. There are signboard carrying cautions such as ‘go-slow turn ahead’ or ‘merging traffic ahead.’ Every one should be careful when there is merging traffic.”
Ankit Singh a resident of Noida Sector 36, who was recently fined for changing lanes, said, “I am new in Delhi and the traffic system is very confusing. There is no uniformity of speed limits. Cars coming from the DND flyover are allowed just double the speed of cars coming from other areas so the point of merging is an accident-prone zone. I was fined Rs 600 last week for changing lanes, but there are no signboards explaining about lanes.”
DND
The situation is even more senseless at the Delhi-Noida-Delhi toll bridge (DND) as the speed limit for LMVs is 80 kmph and just 40 kmph for heavy vehicles. “We have four lanes for different categories of vehicles. The extreme right lane is for the fastest moving vehicles, next lane is for fast moving cars, third lane is for heavy vehicles and the last lane is for scooters and bikes. Our speed limit is set by Indian Road Congress (IRC), which is 80 for light vehicle and 40 for heavy vehicle,” said Niranjani Pahariya, manager Public Relations, DND Flyway.
But there is no board on DND Flyway, which gives information about the lanes. Smitasya Pandey of JNU, who owns a DND Flyway silver card, said, “I am very cautious when I am on DND as a number of fatal accidents take place here. Even I am not aware of the categorisation of lanes on DND. No one cares about the speed limits and lanes here. Overspeeding and changing lanes is common on DND. Drivers need awareness classes as everyone gets a driving licence and no one even checks the traffic knowledge of the drivers.”
Indian Roads Congress Secretary General V K Sinha said, “There are many things that are kept in mind before setting speed limits (and lane changing zones). The condition and width of the road is the primary factor. There are different speed limits for different categories of vehicle because impact of accident of heavy vehicle is massive so their speed limit is slower is than light moving vehicles.”