The state transport commissioner called for a collective effort to eliminate bad driving habits and promote road safety.
The state transport department of Maharashtra has denied entry to over 500 vehicles on the Samruddhi Mahamarg over the last three days as part of a new drive to increase road safety.
Samruddhi Mahamarg is also known as the Mumbai-Nagpur Super Communication Expressway. The six-lane access-controlled road will reduce the travel time between Nagpur and Mumbai to seven hours.
The new measures include stopping vehicles that have tyres “not road-worthy” or “are worn out” from entering the 520 km-long expressway.
In addition, transport officials are now using a computer system to check the average speed of vehicles before they exit. If the speed is higher than the permissible limit of 120 kmph, the gates will lock automatically, and officials are alerted.
The initiative comes after the expressway was plagued by accidents in which 31 people were killed in the first 100 days after its inauguration in December last year.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has now directed traffic police and transport officials to take active steps to reduce fatalities. The transport department has deployed various measures to catch those who flout traffic rules. Interceptor vehicles have been strategically positioned along the expressway, where they use speed guns to monitor speeding motorists.
Heavy vehicles have also been under close scrutiny, and those caught switching lanes indiscriminately or cutting lanes have been chased down by these interceptor vehicles.
According to Vivek Bhimanwar, the state transport commissioner, these new strategies put in place by the department will help to ensure road safety along the expressway, reports Times Of India.
In the past, motorists had no fear of violating traffic rules, but now they will have to face the consequences, and this will lead to a significant reduction in accidents and fatalities.
Bhimanwar added that the state transport department will continue to focus on ensuring that only roadworthy vehicles use the Samruddhi Expressway, which is crucial if the number of fatalities is to be reduced. The public must also understand that it is not just the responsibility of the transport department; everyone must contribute to making the road a safer place.
The combination of denying entry to vehicles with worn-out tyres and monitoring the average speed of vehicles will ensure that only roadworthy vehicles can use the expressway. Furthermore, the use of interceptor vehicles to monitor speeding drivers will catch offenders and deter them from driving recklessly.
All these efforts to improve road safety will go a long way in making the Samruddhi Mahamarg Expressway a safer place to travel.