The Indian Road Congress stipulates the parameters for the speed breakers, but they aren’t being followed.
In recent years, more and more unauthorized speed breakers have emerged in Bangalore. Residents and Traffic Police say, “Unauthorized speed breakers continue to cause accidents as well as vehicular damage.”
AadiSatyajit a resident of Bannerghatta says, “Suddenly the speed breaker appears out of nowhere, it wasn’t one of those small speed breakers, it was unusually big. It was irregularly shaped and because of the height of the speed breaker, I completely lost balance and the bike fell on my leg.”
According to the Traffic Engineering Cell, residents build unauthorized speed breakers to slow down traffic in residential areas. These speed breakers do not follow the parameters of the Indian Road Congress, which is the apex body of road works.
The Indian Road Congress stipulates the parameters for the speed breakers, stating that speed breakers are formed basically by providing a rounded (of 17 meter radius) hump of 3.7 meter width and 0.10 meter height for the preferred Advisory crossing speed of 25 km/h for general traffic.
The Traffic Police say that as many as 427 unauthorized speed breakers which are also notorious for causing vehicular damage were recognized. The Traffic Police are now consulting the(BBMP) for alterations and removals.
Vehicular damagesare also very common due to speed breakers.
Unauthorized speed breakers are also notorious for causing vehicular damage.
Ravi, a manager of Advaith Hyundai says that an average of 32 vehicles come in for repairs every day, due to damages caused by speed breaker.
Mahesh, another service manager states that, “By applying brakes at a speed breaker, shock absorbers get impacted. Lower arm bushes will be present in the vehicle. Lower arm bushes can get cut due to the heavy load. The alignment of steering accelerator racket would change.”
Vikram Bhatt, an urban planner from Urban Synthesis says that, “According to the IRC, there is a specific standard to be followed. If that is being followed, it is clearly given that where you are supposed to put the speed breakers and where you are not supposed to put them and the height of it. One needs to follow and enact that accordingly. Speed breakers need to be designed with utmost care, and they have to be according to the rules and regulations of the Indian Road Congress.”
He also states that these speed breakers are built with no logic and the height of these breaks also varies considerably. Lastly he adds, that the lack of visibility features on unauthorized speed breakers, leads to further accidents and damage to vehicles.
And hence, unauthorised speed breakers continue to remain an irony; for they are built by residents, but continue to be a problem to citizens.
