The speed limit on Indian roads should be reconsidered only after stringent road regulations are in place to deal with issues unique to India
In a recent meeting with his officials, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, proposed to increase the speed limit of vehicles on expressways (controlled-access highways) by up to 20 kilometres per hour (kmph). This, he stated, was on account of considerable improvements in the quality of India’s highways that allow for faster travel than in the past. The present maximum speed limit for cars on expressways is 120 kmph and on national highways, the maximum speed limit is 100 kmph.
The minister opined that the Indian mindset was not in favour of higher speeds as it held that speed causes accidents. The minister, however, reiterated his own belief at the India Today’ Conclave 2021. He said, “My personal view is that the speed limit for vehicles on expressways should be increased to 140 km per hour.” Gadkari added that while the speed limits on national highways should be at least 100 kmph on four-lane roads, the respective speed limit for two-lane roads and city roads should be 80 kmph and 75 kmph.
The minister also found the issue of speed a big challenge in view of some judicial rulings. “There are some decisions by the Supreme Court and high courts regarding car speed, due to which we are not able to do anything,” he said. The latest in regard to this matter was a recent judgment of 18 August 2021, of the Madras High Court. It quashed a 2018 Government of India notification by which speed limit of vehicles on highways and expressways was hiked. The notification had set the speed limit for M1 category of vehicles—motor vehicles used for the carriage of passengers, comprising not more than eight seats in addition to the driver's seat—at 120 kmph on expressways, 100 kmph on national highways, and at 60 kmph for other roads. The High Court observed that in spite of knowing that over-speeding is the main killer and responsible for most of the accidents, the Government, for various reasons, particularly for commercial reasons, has increased the speed limit resulting in more deaths.
Gadkari added that while the speed limits on national highways should be at least 100 kmph on four-lane roads, the respective speed limit for two-lane roads and city roads should be 80 kmph and 75 kmph.
Gadkari, however, held a different viewpoint on the matter. He added that today, such expressways had been built in the country that not even a dog can come on those roads because barricading has been done on both sides of the road. He said he has prepared a “file to revise the maximum speed limits for vehicles for different categories of roads”. “In a democracy, we have the right to make laws and judges have the right to interpret the law... a Bill will soon be introduced in Parliament to revise the speed limit for vehicles on Indian roads,” he said.
Speed limits have traditionally been based on considerations of safety and mobility and the attempt has been to find the optimum balance between the two. Lately, environmental considerations have become an additional factor, more particularly the weather and the aspects of air pollution and noise. While all the above cited issues are of great significance, countries sometimes differ in their search for the optimum balance between the factors. It is obvious that local conditions would dictate a difference in priorities. A common approach quite widely employed to determine the most appropriate speed limit for a particular road is to set the limit close to the V85. The V85-speed is the speed that is not exceeded by 85 percent of the vehicles. This is with a view to draw from driving practices in the country and arrive at a limit that would be credible and acceptable for the majority of drivers. Quite clearly, setting limits that are impractical compromise the enforcement aspects by unnecessarily increasing the load of violations.
Different countries around the world have set different vehicular speed limits depending on the class of roads. There are also lower speed limits prescribed for heavy good vehicles and buses and coaches. Europe, Spain and Portugal prescribe 120 kmph for highways, 100 kmph for dual roadways, 90 kmph for single roadways and 50 kmph for construction zones. In Germany, most German autobahns have dispensed with speed limits, although some of them do prescribe a ceiling. The United Kingdom (UK) and United States (US) are about the only countries that have not adopted the metric system and persist on not prescribing driving speeds in kmph. In the UK, highways and dual roadways have a 70-mph ceiling; single roadways restrict vehicular speed at 60 mph and construction zones at 30 mph. In the US, speed limits vary across states, between 60 and 80 mph for highways.
A common approach quite widely employed to determine the most appropriate speed limit for a particular road is to set the limit close to the V85. The V85-speed is the speed that is not exceeded by 85 percent of the vehicles.
In extreme weather conditions such as in rains or when there is fog, visibility drops considerably. Hence speed limits drop. So also, in snow and in the winter, speed limits drop to factor in the naturally compromised driving condition of the roads. Neither do hot climates favour very high speeds. Countries such as France stipulate lower speed limits for certain temporary periods in the summer to counter air pollution and smog. In the Netherlands, an increasing number of motorway sections have a permanent lower speed limit aiming to reduce air pollution and noise where there are adjacent residential areas.
The Indian driving and road scenario presents a complicated picture. There are a host of issues in the context of Indian roads that need to be borne in mind. One of them is driver tiredness. European Union (EU) policies cap time at the wheel—nine hours a day or 56 hours a week and a 45-minute break after every drive of four-and-a-half hours. No such prescriptions apply on Indian roads. Drivers of multi-axle vehicles, trucks, taxis, and company cars are the group where drivers have been seen to be overworked. A large number of accidents, therefore, happen on account of driver fatigue. Many drivers compound this by giving in to distractions such as conversing on the mobile, peering into satellite navigation instruments or operating the radio or CD player. The second is the lax process of granting a driver’s license and a lack of testing and updating of driving skills. In many developed countries, drivers must undergo specified hours of periodic skill upgradation. In India, the infrastructure and manpower employed for drivers’ tests are both below international standards.
Drivers of multi-axle vehicles, trucks, taxis, and company cars are the group where drivers have been seen to be overworked. A large number of accidents, therefore, happen on account of driver fatigue.
Furthermore, overloading, especially of trucks, is a common phenomenon on Indian roads, heightening chances of accident, apart from road wear and tear. While the Supreme Court has specifically ruled against overloading, this in actuality gets frequently breached. One would, therefore, have to admit that many of the road regulations do not, in practice, get enforced for a variety of reasons. These enforcement deficits coupled with poor driving quality and overall driving discipline make India one of the most accident-prone countries in the world. More than a million people annually lose their lives on Indian roads and many millions suffer injuries.
We, however, need to bear in mind that the minister was talking in this specific instance exclusively about expressways. Expressways are for very fast travel, and, therefore, keeping low speed limits on expressways does not make sense. Most German autobahns have no speed limit and yet their record on safety is excellent. Hence, high speed and accidents may not necessarily be inextricably related. One, however, may have an argument about whether 140 kmph is the right limit. Even autobahns, despite not prescribing a limit, advise a driving speed of 130 kmph. However, the two most important negatives troubling Indian roads, need to be first comprehensively resolved—better civic road discipline and better enforcement of traffic laws by authorities.
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Dr. Ramanath Jha is Distinguished Fellow at Observer Research Foundation, Mumbai. He works on urbanisation — urban sustainability, urban governance and urban planning. Dr. Jha belongs ...
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