Chandigarh
Radar speed display boards, a screen that displays the speed of a motor vehicle on the road from a distance of at least 100 meters, were installed at six locations in Chandigarh on Tuesday.
The boards, which show the speed in three categories including Dangerous, Slow Down and Normal, according to the fixed speed on the particular road stretch, were purchased at a cost of Rs 12.59 lakh in November 2019. They were installed between Sector 29 roundabout and Hallomajra light point, near Poultry Farm light point, Gurudwara Sector 47 near Faida barrier, Sector 45/46/49/50 light point, between Railway light point and Transport light point, and Sector 47/48 Kali Bari light point.
While the boards are installed with the purpose of making motorists aware of their vehicle’s speed as a precaution, it caused an eruption of confusion among drivers as they could sparsely understand which motor vehicle’s speed was being displayed on the screen. A taxi driver stationed at Industrial Area near Sector 29 roundabout, Sudhir Chaudhary said, “For a common motorists, it is not easy to read the speed of his or her motor vehicle on the display board. Suppose, five vehicles are coming towards the board, how can one read the speed of an individual vehicle then.”
Speaking on the issue, DSP (traffic) Charanjit Singh Virk said, “We installed the screen boards for collecting the average data of volume of motor vehicles and their speed. The data will automatically go to the traffic police control room at traffic police lines in Sector 29. The data will help the traffic police to conclude which roads bear the maximum and minimum traffic, along with the average speed of vehicles. The location of these display boards will change rotation wise. Shortly, people will be educated about how to read the speed of their vehicles on these boards. We are already challaning the vehicles for over speeding.”
The screens, which are equipped with special sensors, are capable of reading the speed of motor vehicles that cross the prescribed speed on the particular stretch.
In Chandigarh, maximum speed limit for four-wheeler is 60 km per hour, while for two-wheelers it is 45 km per hour on Madhya Marg and Dakshin Marg. The speed limit is 50 km per hour and 45 km per hour for four-wheeler and two-wheeler, respectively, at Udyog Marg. According to the rules, the speed limit on the six lane roads is 60 km per hour for four-wheeler and 45 km per hour for two-wheeler, and for the four lane roads, the limit is 50 km for four-wheeler and 45 km per hour for two-wheeler.
