DHARMAPURI: In a pilot project aimed at increasing safety on the Thoppur ghat road, the private firm that manages the Palayampudur toll plaza is installing Vehicle Actuated Speed Display (VASD) system at two spots on the 6-km stratch to detect vehicles that exceed the 30-kmph speed limit. Motorists who violate the speed limit would be penalised by the RTO based on the feed from the system.
The Thoppur ghat road is a busy national highway with over 20,000 motorists using it daily. The road is also an accident-prone area with high fatality rate because of which NHAI declared a 2-km stretch as ‘black spot’. To reduce accidents, NHAI has proposed construction of an elevated road at the cost of Rs 775 crore.
In the meantime, L&T, which manages the toll plaza, has started setting up VASD system at two random spots on the road. Speaking to TNIE, staff in Palayampudur toll plaza said, “Vehicle Actuated Speed Display (VASD) system is a sophisticated traffic management solution designed to enhance road safety by actively engaging drivers. It detects approaching vehicles and displays their speed on electronic signs, prompting drivers to adhere to the prescribed speed limit. The system is aimed at reducing speeding, increasing driver awareness, and minimizing accidents.”
“The VASD system is being fixed at two spots on the road at a total cost of around Rs 25 lakh. Two displays have been set up 120 m away from the sensor which will display live feed of speeding vehicles. The display will provide the prescribed speed limit and record vehicle data. If a driver fails to stick to speed limit, the evidence in the system will be used by the RTO to generate e-challan,” the staff explained.
Regional Transport Officer M Dhamodaran said, “The speed limit on the ghat road is 30 kmph. Because people refuse to adhere to the speed limit there is a high chance of accidents on this road. So the initiative to set up system is welcome. For the past three years, we have been using radar gun to penalise speeding drivers manually, now with the VASD we can do the same automatically. The systen will become operational soon.”