While the city roads have become better for the motorists with the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation filling several potholes, the civic body's newfound practice of installing PVC (Polyvinyl chloride) speed breakers in place of the traditional black-top ones has turned into a cause for concern.
Crossing the PVC speed breakers, which form an obstacle like steep humps, has been a great discomfort to the motorists.
Speed breakers are meant to slow down the vehicles at places such as junctions, and residential and school zones as a safety measure, and they should be laid as per the Indian Roads Congress (IRC) norms.
“There should neither cause any damage to the vehicles nor discomfort to the drivers and passengers. The hump should not give rise to excessive noise or cause harmful vibrations in the adjoining buildings, or affect the other residents of the area. Above the design speed, a driver should suffer an increasing level of discomfort (but without losing directional control and without any vehicle damage) depending on the extent to which the design speed is exceeded,” the IRC guidelines say.
As per IRC, a speed breaker should be of a height of 0.1 metre (or 10 cm) with a 3.7-metre-wide hump so that the vehicle speed is brought down to 25 kmph for general traffic.
However, the new easy-to-install speed breakers and several other traditional speed breakers with steep humps are forcing the motorists to almost come to a halt for comfortable passage, or experience a rude jerk that may even lead to loss of control of the vehicle.
“For a youngster like me, these speed breakers may not be an issue, but elderly people who use the road frequently are complaining of back pain,” said Sk. Amhed, a resident of Bharati Nagar.
“PVC speed breakers have a standard height and can be installed easily. Also, finding contractors to lay traditional speed breakers has become tough”M. Prabhakar VMC Chief Engineer
When contacted, VMC Chief Engineer M. Prabhakar said the civic body had been installing these (PVC) speed breakers following requests from locals who wanted to avoid the danger of speeding vehicles.
“The PVC speed breakers come with a standard height and don’t vary from road to road like the traditional ones. They can be installed easily. Also, finding contractors to lay traditional speed breakers has become tough,’ Mr. Prabhakar said.
