VIJAYAWADA: In an attempt to check overspeeding of vehicles on the National Highways (NHs), the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has come up with a proposal to install speed guns near accident-prone spots across the State. According to NHAI officials, the majority of the road accidents reported on NHs are due to over-speeding of vehicles. The NHAI has conducted a survey to install speed guns on the NH stretch in the state. After identifying the spots, speed guns will be installed near accident-prone spots.
They can detect the speed of every vehicle passing through and take pictures of the number plate of a vehicle from a distance of 500 metres. If any vehicle is found to be overspeeding, the machine will produce a printout with images of the vehicle and its number plate and the Transport department will impose a penalty on the vehicle owner.
The authority, with the assistance of brake inspectors and local police officials, will also focus more on penalising overloaded lorries, drunken driving, riding without wearing helmets and using mobile phones while driving.
“The NHAI is contemplating introducing engineering, enforcement, education and emergency techniques being followed by the neighbouring States to reduce the road accident fatalities in the State. The report submitted to the government by the Andhra Pradesh Road Safety Council revealed that the majority of the road accidents reported on NH stretches are due to overspeeding and drunk driving,” said a senior NHAI official.
The speed guns will help the brake inspectors catch the erring speedsters as the printout produced by the gun is admissible as evidence in the court. Apart from installing speed guns, the department has also decided to repair the damaged NH stretches in a timely manner and strengthen emergency response teams to save the lives of the accident victims by shifting them to the nearby hospitals during the golden hour.
As many as 23,313 road accidents were reported in the State in 2021, according to the State transport department. The mishaps were largely attributed to overspeeding and negligence of drivers. Anantapur recorded the highest number of 4,051 accidents.