Tyre killers installed at second intersection in Noida to curb wrong side driving

After installing tyre killers at the sectors 76/77 intersection last month, the Noida authority on Saturday installed another strip at the U-turn near sectors 50/41 intersection to curb driving on the wrong side.

The new tyre killer strip has a different design from the previous one that was criticised by some resident groups as being unsafe and not very effective. According to authority officials, the new tyre killers have been conceived by a Swedish firm and manufactured in South Africa.

“This intersection has become unsafe as residents complained of multiple accidents due to driving on the wrong side. The new tyre killer strip is being installed for free as a pilot. The tyre killers will be fully installed by Sunday and made operational by Monday morning,” Rajeev Tyagi, general manager of Noida authority, said.

The Sector 50 intersection, which was closed for repair work, will be opened from Monday. The new tyre killers, whose cost is about Rs 2 lakh per metre, have been installed covering six metres of the road width.

There is some striking differences between the new strip and the previous one. In the new device, each spoke in retracts individually after pressure from the right side but will not retract if there is pressure from the wrong side. The spokes are 100 millimeters in length and would not damage the bottom of vehicles, according to officials.

In the older design, several spokes retract together in a patch when there is pressure. This has made it ineffective in controlling driving on the wrong side, especially for two wheelers.

Tyre killers were first installed on January 7 at the sectors 76/77 intersection that were damaged within a day. After this, they were repaired and fixed using bitumen.

Local vendors at this intersection said that people often were able to slow down and drive on the wrong side without the spikes affecting the tyres. “Most two wheeler riders just press the spikes with their foot and get enough space for their vehicle to go on the wrong side. However, the number of people driving on the wrong side and driving rashly at high speed has reduced,” Ramesh Mishra, a vendor at the sectors 76/77 intersection, said.

It is expected that the tyre killers will be installed at two other intersections soon. The Noida authority and traffic police have discussed several points in the city where driving on the wrong side is rampant.

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