Motorists on the city’s arterial M.G. Road are, of late, being penalised for traffic violations.
Owners of vehicles that were reportedly caught moving at a speed of more than 40 km per hour during the past couple of months are fined ₹435 by the police who aim at controlling over speeding of vehicles.
However, this did not go well the motorists on the receiving end as they claim that they are unaware of the speed limit being imposed.
“There was no prior announcement or speed limit sign on the road where I was fined for moving at a speed of 42 kmph on my motorcycle. Had there been any information on such imposition I would have moved accordingly,” said a motorcyclist who discovered a pending challan on his name in the city’s e-Challan website.
RLVD cameras
Police have installed the expensive Red Light Violation Detectors (RLVD) cameras at a few road junctions in the city and two of them are being used to spot speeding vehicles. One such camera is at the Veterinary junction on M.G. Road where the four road junction was closed to allow faster movement of traffic. “There is frequent over speeding of vehicles on the M.G. Road. To control the practice we have fixed the RLVD cameras,” said DCP (Traffic) Kranti Rana Tata. According to the Motor Vehicle Act, “Speed restriction must be imposed in the interest of public safety or convenience or because of the nature of any road or bridge, by notification in the Official Gazette and by setting up appropriate traffic signs showing maximum speed allowed.”
Also, the government can impose restriction without any such announcement if it is only for less than a month’s time, the Act states. “The city police can also impose traffic speed limit considering various factors like traffic density and road infrastructure. In any case, a proper announcement should be made,” Deputy Transport Commissioner E. Meera Prasad said.