NHAI takes traffic police’s help to end speeding on Delhi-Mumbai Expressway

NHAI officials said violations captured by their cameras, pertaining to speeding, wrong parking and lane changing are being shared with the traffic police

In order to curb traffic violations, particularly speeding, on Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on Wednesday said it has connected the vehicle speed detection system to traffic police headquarters in Karnal for sharing data on violations for penal action and speed limit enforcement

According to details shared by Gurugram police, 24 fines were issued for speeding and two for lane change in the past 15 days. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

NHAI officials said violations captured by their cameras, pertaining to speeding, wrong parking and lane changing are being shared with the traffic police since the third week of October, which has since started issuing online fines to violators.

According to details shared by Gurugram police, 24 fines were issued for speeding and two for lane change in the past 15 days.

The Sohna Dausa section of Delhi-Mumbai Expressway was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 12. Around 20,000 vehicles use this expressway to travel between Delhi and Jaipur daily, as per NHAI officials, and the number is gradually increasing

The decision to share data with Haryana Police was taken in the wake of a recent 20-day survey by the highways authority, which revealed that over 600 vehicles daily violated the speed limit of 120 kilometres per hour (km/hour) on the expressway, with a few vehicles clocking speeds as high as 200km/hour.

Highway officials said speeding is a major reason for fatal accidents on the expressway and they wanted to curb such violations on priority.

Two persons were killed in August this year, when a Rolls Royce Phantom car being driven at over 200km/hour struck a petrol tanker in Nuh on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway. NHAI officials said the Rolls was speeding.

In another incident, a Faridabad resident, who while returning from Karoli on Rajasthan died after his Mercedes hit a milk tanker on Delhi-Mumbai Expressway in Nuh on September 5. Highway officials said this accident was also a result of speeding.

Mukesh Kumar Meena, project director, NHAI, said they have connected the speed detection system with traffic police headquarters, and now information pertaining to violations will be shared with the police in real time. “We have also observed that in the past two weeks, instances of speeding have reduced as the traffic police has started issuing online fines. We have also created awareness regarding speeding, wrong parking and other such violations. Several accidents have been caused due to speeding and we need to stop this violation,” he said.

According to NHAI officials, data from 80 high resolution automatic number plate reading cameras, installed at every kilometres of the expressway, is monitored from the highway control room in Alipur on Sohna Road. The details of violations are captured by the software system and these are shared with the traffic police online, they added.

The survey conducted by NHAI in the months of September and October over 20 days found that almost 600 vehicles were daily violating the speed limit. These violations were caught by the high speed detecting automatic numberplate reading cameras that have been installed at every kilometre of the expressway.

What startled the NHAI officials was that 40 vehicles were caught speeding beyond 180km/hour, and one vehicle even touched 249km/hour, NHAI said.

Apart from speeding, the NHAI officials said wrong parking is another issue they want to resolve on priority. “Certain stretches of the highway are witnessing wrong parking, particularly by truck drivers and this violation will be stopped in the coming days with the help of state traffic police and administration,” said Meena.

The Gurugram traffic police said they have started issuing online fines to violators based on data received from online cameras. “Fines are being issued for speeding, lane change and other violations. We appeal to the commuters to drive within the speed limit,” said a traffic police official, who is not authorised to speak to media.