NEW DELHI: The Union road transport ministry has on Friday asked the state governments and other transport agencies like NHAI to remove all the speed breakers from the national highways, which hinder the free movement of traffic.
In its circular to the state transport ministries, the central govt has sought the details of the action taken by the state agencies by next Wednesday. It has also asked about the number of speed breakers laid on highways with the approval of the state transport ministries.
As per the Road Accident Report (2014), published by the Central transport ministry, as many as 6,672 people have lost their lives in accidents caused due to potholes and speed breakers laid on the national highways. It is common with the vehiculars to drive at top speeds when they are on flat highways. However, it eventually leads to a major accident as most of the times the vehicle drivers goes unnoticed about the speed breakers, especially during the night times.
The Union ministry observed that the local authorities have been constructing too many speed breakers on highways to check vehicular speeds despite of the strict guidelines in place. “This is not desirable. The main function of the national highways is to facilitate smooth and fast traffic. Constructing speed breakers can be a serious hazard to the fast-moving traffic”, the ministry said.
However, the local agencies have their own reasons for constructing speed barriers on national highways. International Road Federation chairman K K Kapila said, “I agree that there should not be any speed breakers on the national highways. But, an important fact must be noticed here. Most of the times these national highways pass through villages and people need to cross over to the other side. As a result, the speed barriers are constructed to check vehicular speeds”.
“To prevent this, the Central government should explore the possibility of providing foot-over bridges or pedestrian under passes on national highways to ensure the safety of vehiculars and pedestrians at the same time”, he added.
