Steps to cut speed: Plan for more cops, guard rails on Kolkata's VIP Road after accidents

KOLKATA: In absence of automatic speed guns with display boards on VIP Road, which could have alerted motorists about their speeds, Bidhannagar Police plans to deploy more cops on patrol duty and instal LED boards by the road, along with reflective furniture.
The cops on road will have blinking devices, which they can brandish to alert motorists or flag down speeding vehicles.

The Bidhannagar Police top brass held a meeting on Tuesday on ways to cut down on speed on VIP Road, a day after four persons were killed and two were injured in an accident on the stretch.

"We don't get many complaints of speeding on VIP Road during the day when the road is congested. But post-midnight, motorists step on the accelerator, especially on the airport-bound flank. We plan to instal automatic speed guns on different stretches of the city, including the main arterial road in New Town, where cars move at a high speed. The installation will be done after the completion of Metro work on the stretch, for which many utility cables and traffic furniture will be shifted in the coming weeks," said a senior officer of Bidhannagar City Police's traffic department.
As an immediate measure, the number of cops deployed at the major crossings of VIP Road has been increased, especially at night.
"We are deploying five men on permanent night duty at three key crossings of Dum Dum Park, Lake Town Clock Tower and Golaghata. Besides, we will step up checks on drink-driving," said the officer.
Cops are also planning to use the manual laser speed guns to prosecute motorists for speeding.
Bidhannagar Police has placed orders for new reflective sign boards of "Go Slow" and "Traffic Signal Ahead".
"From Tuesday night, we will conduct a trial to place guard rails, fitted with reflectors and blinkers, on VIP Road in such a way that they slow down speeding vehicles without posing any danger to them. We need to devise new ways as we cannot instal speed-breakers or place guard rails in a zigzag way on VIP Road," said the officer.