Speed breakers Most are illegal

Back in 2011, the most expensive and fastest car in the world, Buggati Veyron was brought to Hyderabad, only to allure potential customers. The news had notched attention from all parts of the country and car paparazzi thronged Novotel, Shamshabad, where the vehicle was kept. Two international racers took the vehicle for a spin on the city streets. Well, that apparently became the most embarrassing moment for every Hyderabadi. The mighty vehicle could not easily pass through speed breakers near Shamshabad Airport. The news and photos of the struggling vehicle went viral on websites and social networking sites. And finally India was mocked by engineers across the globe, for its bad roads and traffic with speed breakers as a biggest threat for vehicles.

More than embarrassment, the threat that the speed breakers project to every motorist in city is severe. The same problem was faced by motorists in Mumbai as well, not so long ago. Mumbai has now got rid of speed breakers following a High Court order in 2005. The order mentioned that speed breakers hinder the free flow of traffic. But motorists in Hyderabad still have no such relief yet.

In many areas like Srinagar Colony, Madhuranagar, Yousufguda, Narayanaguda, Charminar, Janaki Nagar, Tolichowki, AS Rao Nagar, Sainikpuri and Bhavani Nagar, local residents themselves pooled in money to construct speed breakers. In another instance at Arul Colony, the road next to Vijaya High School has five speed breakers on a 150 metre stretch of road. The distance between unauthorised speed breakers is only a few feet in some lanes as residents do not want any speeding vehicles. These speed breakers, unscientifically constructed, pose danger to motorists.

Since these speed breakers must be laid on GHMC roads, permission needs to be taken from the civic authority. The GHMC permits the speed breakers after they are approved by the traffic police. But residents care a hoot for all these and construct speed breakers at their will.

Commenting on this, Defence Colony corporator, Mariamma Chacko, said “The residents do not consult anyone and in a meeting chaired by the colony president and the colony association, they decided to construct a speed breaker. The scenario is the same with most schools too. They pool up funds and construct speed breakers by themselves. Whenever questioned, they say it is to prevent any untoward happening, but I am sceptical about it, for it does more harm to the vehicle and people at large.”

In conversation with the Hyderabad Hans, Amit Garg, additional commissioner (traffic) said, “When general public apply for constructing a speed breaker to the municipal authorities or to me, an inspection is made to see if the stretch of road is really an accident prone area, or if it’s a downward slope ending, or a lane from which traffic comes out to the road. Only if completely necessary, we allow a speed breaker to be built. I find it completely unethical when people take up roads as their own responsibility and build speed breakers to their will.”

There are various norms which must be followed before construction of a speed breaker. According to Dheerendhra, a road safety trainer from Safe Drive India, “Each speed breaker must approximately be 5 inches in height and 3.3 metres in length. But the most important part is that the speed breaker must be negotiable at a speed of 20 kmph and a vehicle must easily pass through them without taking a toll of the suspension of the vehicle. But on the contrary, the speed breakers in most lanes are more like vehicle breakers or bone breakers. It hardly serves the purpose.”

According to Indian Road Congress (IRC), an unauthorised speed breaker also goes against road safety and is also a reason for road accidents. Apart from safety speed breakers also takes a toll of the vehicle in many ways.

Dheerendhra added, “Frequent application of brakes and immediate gears shifts have a significant impact over the mileage of the vehicle. The vehicle which moves at 4000-6000 rpm suddenly dips to 1000-2000 causing a significant traction in the engine. This consumes three times more petrol than on a normal cruise.”

Each speed breaker must have a warning signboard; 50 metres ahead of the speed breakers in city and 200 metres ahead in highways, but it is never that way, when it comes to Hyderabad.