Telangana Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar’s Toyota Corolla Altis fined for overspeeding

On Wednesday, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar’s Toyota Corolla Altis sedan was fined for overspeeding. The vehicle was issued a challan of Rs. 3,000. The location of the incident was P. V. Narasimha Rao Expressway. The challan was cleared by department officials as the chief secretary gave instructions to his officers to get the challan cleared as soon as possible.

In the picture, we can see that the Telangana’s Chief Secretary’s Toyota Corolla Altis bears the TS09FA0001 number plate. An anonymous Rajendranagar police officer has revealed that the traffic police deployed on the P. V. Narasimha Rao Expressway clicks pictures of the violators and the expressway is monitored continuously because many people tend to overspeed on the highway which can lead to accidents.

P. V. Narasimha Rao Expressway was opened on 19th October 2009 and the project started in October of 2005. The construction was delayed because of some issues. It connects Hyderabad International Airport with Mehdipatnam. The cost of the elevated road was Rs. 600 Crores and it is 11.6 kilometres long.

Also read: This resto-modified Toyota Corolla Altis sedan looks beautiful

Nitin Gadkari says increase speed limit by 20 kmph

Back in July, Nitin Gadkari Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways asked his ministry officials to make amendments to the speed limits. He suggested that the speed limits should be increased by 20 kmph depending on the category of the roads. He said that there should be a uniformity in the speed limits so that the vehicles have to change the speeds less frequently over short stretches. Last year, Nitin Gadkari also said that it is unfortunate that some commuters are being fined for going over 40 kmph on multi-lane highways. You can read more about this by clicking here.

Madras High Court says reduce speed limits

On the other hand, Madras High Court said that the speed limits should be decreased from 100 kmph to 80 kmph on highways. According to the high court overspeeding is the reason behind most of the accidents that happen in our country. A notification dated August 5th 2014 said that the speed limit should be 80 kmph even on the highways. The High Court has directed authorities to revert back to this notification.

The bench included Justice N Kirubakaran (since retired) and Justice T V Thamilselvi. They said, “overspeeding is a major cause for road accidents, it is not known as to how the improvement in road infrastructure and engine technology would reduce accidents.” They did not accept the notification that was issued by the Union Government to increase the speed limits. Instead, the bench stated better engine technology as the reason behind the uncontrolled speed and more accidents. They also said that the authorities should use speed guns, drones and other ways to catch the violators and then punish them.

Back in April, Madras High Court also suggested the government calibrate the vehicles’ ECU in such a way that they do not exceed the speed limits. It is important to note that vehicles that are imported to India or come as a Completely Built Unit or CBU do not get speed alerts at 80 kmph and 120 kmph.

Source

Also read: 2021 Skoda Octavia launch timeline revealed