Hyderabad speed cops give no leeway

Hyderabad: Speeding tickets on Tank Bund Road and the PVNR Expressway have become commonplace and motorists complain that many of them are being wrongly fined.

The speed limit on Tank Bund is between 20 and 40 kmph, the traffic police are issuing challans even if the vehicles are travelling at 2 to 4 kmph above the limit.  Sources say that inspectors on the field are supposed to give a leeway of +5 kmph depending on the route.

On the PVNR, the speed limit is 60 kmph while on the ORR it is 120 kmph. Mr G. Shankar, who was issued a challan for violating the speed limit on the expressway, said, “I was shocked to receive a speeding ticket; I never travel beyond 60 kmph, the speed might have increased by 1 or 2 kmph but even then the traffic cops issued the challan. “

Mr M. Subba Reddy was issued a challan for driving at 43 kmph on Tank Bunk. Speeding violations are caught by speed guns installed at different locations each day by the traffic police.

South Zone DCP, Hyderabad traffic police, A.V. Ranganath said, “Traffic inspectors are verbally told to consider slight variations (+5 kmph) but major violations like 10 kmph and above over the limit cannot be ignored.”

The city needs new speed limits keeping in mind the density of vehicles. The average speed for vehicles in the city is 10 kmph. In many places it has reduced due to factors like narrow roads, encroachments, Metro Rail construction and increase in the number of vehicles.

In 1981, the traffic in Hyderabad moved at 15 kmph. Every day over 600 new vehicles are added to the city roads, which translates into 18,000 per month and 2 lakh per year.

The density of vehicles in Hyderabad is the second highest in the country after Delhi. For every 2.5 per cent growth of population, the vehicle density growth is 20 per cent.