The recent BMW and Audi hit-and-run cases reported from Delhi and Ghaziabad were cruel reminders of the menace of speeding, especially at odd hours when there is little police presence on empty roads.
Roads that are clogged during the day resemble racing tracks at night with drivers showing scant regard for speed limits. Be it the borders or arterial roads, the situation is the same.
Hopefully, the Capital may soon be able to rein in errant drivers by installing automatic speed violation detection cameras. However, police officers and road safety experts believe there is a long way to go.
Among the notorious stretches in the city is the road in front of IIT-Delhi — the site of the BMW hit-and-run case. Dilip Chauhan, an eyewitness, said the incident seemed to have had little impact on other drivers. Mr. Chauhan, who works in SDA Market and lives in the vicinity, himself recounted a few close shaves since the January 22 case.
According to NGO SaveLIFE Foundation, most fatal crashes during the late night and early morning hours. “Given the low density of traffic at night and negligible enforcement, speeding combined with fatigue and drinking become major causes of deaths. Speed-calming engineering measures, rigorous training and testing before issuance of licences and enhanced enforcement can help,” said Piyush Tewari, SLF founder.
As per a Delhi Police study, most accidents take place between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m., and then again between 1.30 a.m. and 2 a.m. But with 5,600 policemen, most of whom are on traffic management duty during the day, officers acknowledge that ensuring deterrence at night is difficult.
In such a case, the cameras will come to the police’s rescue. A tender for 170 cameras has already been issued. It is expected that these virtual eyes will be functional at major junctions by the middle of this year.
But even by conservative estimates, an ideal situation would be when a camera is in place every 5 kilometres, which translates into roughly 6,600 cameras for the Capital.
Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Ajay Kashyap said that the move will see some deterrence and serve as a shot in the arm along with overspeeding challans. Mr. Kashyap added that while the focus was on congestion points earlier, it was observed that extra vigil on one intersection often led to the same problem surfacing at the next junction.
“Now, our focus will be on entire corridors so that a well-coordinated prosecution exercise over several days brings down fatalities. Initially, we have selected Mathura Road, Aurobindo Marg and the stretch along Dhaula Kuan to observe traffic flow and ensure deterrence,” said Mr. Kashyap.
Noting that the number of fatalities were already dipping, he stressed that the issue was not limited to prosecution alone. According to both Mr. Kashyap and Mr. Tewari, better planning and a strong legislation, which is in the pipeline in the form of an Amended Road Safety and Motor Vehicles Law, are the need of the hour.
“There is an urgent need to pass the pending Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill as it not only aims to tighten enforcement around risk factors such as speeding, but also proposes a broader framework for engineering and education,” said Mr. Tewari.
