Bumpy ride ahead for speed governors in Telangana

Hyderabad: The Telangana government’s decision to implement the Centre’s directive that all transport and goods vehicles install speed governors — a device which limits the speed of the vehicle — with effect from April 1 may run into rough weather.

The state government has still not finalised the modalities for implementation of the rule.  And private bus operators and truckers are in no mood to install the devices on their vehicles. With less than a week left, there is no clarity on the price of speed governors, the companies authorised to sell them, where the vehicle owner should get the speed governor installed, how much time it will take for installation, who will certify it and whether there are sufficient numbers of speed governors available in the market.

Telangana joint transport commissioner B. Venkateshwarlu said the government is working out modalities. “Motorists must understand that this is a Central directive to all states. In Telangana, we hope to start its implementation from April 1.

We don’t expect that all transport and goods vehicles would queue up to install speed governors on a single day. As and when the vehicle comes for fitness tests, it can be equipped with the device. Guidelines would be issued shortly and sufficient time would be given. Only thing is we want to start its implementation from April 1 and it will gradually cover all existing vehicles as those being manufactured after October 1 are being released into the market with built-in speed governors,” he said.

Transport expert Prof. P.R. Bhanu Murthy of JNTU said it makes no sense to make speed governors mandatory after the government spent billions on constructing four-lane, six-lane and eight-lane high speed corridors.  “Why invest so much money when you don’t want vehicles to speed?” he asked.

A senior RTC official said buses should be exempt from the rule because the corporation limits the speed of its vehicles to about 70 kmph by fixing a bolt under the accelerator pedal. Or, the government should help the RTC to install governors.

Mr Anand Kumar, managing director of Convertz Technologies India, one of the companies in the race to supply speed governors, said the price would start from Rs 12,500. “There are many companies that manufacture speed governors. It takes half an hour to fix it. We have proposed that our staff will install it and the RTA has to certify it,” he said.

Truckers, busmen for review of fiat

Operators of trucks and private buses said that the Central and state governments should withdraw the order making it mandatory to install speed governors in transport vehicles manufactured before October 1, 2015.

While private transporters have already gone to the High Court in Karnataka, those in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and other states would soon follow suit.“The rule has no rationale as it exempts private cars. Only the speed of transport vehicles would be regulated. If private vehicles like cars and SUVs can travel at high speed, is there any guarantee that they won’t meet with accidents,” said Telangana State Private Tour and Bus Operators Association president Syed Nizamuddin.

If the government is committed to regulating speed, it should provide speed guns to the police instead of insisting on speed governors on transport vehicles, he said. “The speed guns will check speeding by all vehicles,” he said.

Telangana Lorry Transport Union member A. Mallikarjun said the government should first close the openings on highways through which local traffic enters highways. Under passes should be constructed at these spots, he said. “How can a truck loaded with 10 or 20-tonnes climb a gradient? The driver has to put it in first gear. That will increase fuel consumption and damage clutch plates,” he said.

Orange Tours and Travels MD Sunil Kumar said there are large stretches where highways are wide and traffic is not much, allowing vehicles to exceed 100 kmph. “Why construct the ORR for driving at 120 kmph and then ask motorists to drive at 80 kmph?”

"When there is increasing demand from people to reduce transportation time, how can the government come out with orders reducing speed,” he said. Private bus operators will abide by speed limits in urban areas if the government puts up signboards. But restricting speed to 80 kmph is not desirable, he added.