If you are driving a vehicle with a Telangana State (TS) registration plate and are cautious enough not to break speed rules, then you are likely to reach your destination later than the vehicles with other States’ registration plates.
But the pique of vehicle owners with TS registration is: that they are becoming easy prey for the speed guns installed on NH 44, while vehicles with other States’s registration speed past without getting caught on the camera.The Adilabad district police had introduced one laser speed gun in July this year to monitor overspeeding of vehicles on National and State Highways in a bid to control incidence of road accidents. There are five locations - NH 44, Chanda (T) Junction, Devapur Road, Seethagondi Electricity Sub- Station, Gudihatnoor Bus Station, and Kupti Ghat Road - where the traffic department uses speed guns by turns every day. So far, it had challaned 6,127 vehicles realising a fine of ₹ 63.5 lakh.
“I have observed that TS registered vehicles get notices about fines for over speeding within no time. Vehicles from other States, however, cannot be challaned as the department cannot access the data base of vehicle registration from other States. Neither the owners will be under any obligation to pay the fine even if they get the notice,” pointed out G. Karunakar Reddy of Adilabad town explaining the limitations of the speed guns.
“This is not correct,” countered Superintendent of Police (SP) Vishnu S. Warrier. “Information regarding violation of the speed regulation by drivers from other States gets uploaded in the National Informatics Centre (NIC) servers immediately,” he clarified.“The owner gets notified of his violation within a few days and is forced to pay the fine at least when he wants to renew the vehicle’s documents insurance policy renewal. It may take some extra time but the fine gets realised without doubt as RTAs in concerned States are compliant,” the SP added.
Another limitation that the speed gun is: the camera is dysfunctional in darkness. So, thrill-seeking drivers can cross all speed limits in the night, without the fear of challaned.
