Campaigns, penalties fail to stop lane cutting & speeding on Pune-Mumbai expressway

PUNE: Lane cutting and overspeeding remain the two main traffic violations on Pune-Mumbai expressway despite several campaigns by various agencies, including police and the state transport department, over the past two years.
Experts said that the authorities need to focus on the driving habits of people, rather than continue with such campaigns.
“Last week, I was driving on the expressway. There was heavy traffic as it was a long weekend. I was surprised to see heavy vehicles hogging most of the road space, leaving little space for smaller vehicles,” Sanjay Kishore, a city resident, said.
If one looks at the figures of rule violations on the highway between December last year and April this year, the maximum related to over speeding and lane cutting. Last year, two campaigns were carried out by the transport department in March and September during which the same picture came to light.
Harshad Abhyankar of Save Pune Traffic Movement said, “Lane cutting is a direct result of poor driving education. People are not taught about the ‘blind spots’ and correct technique of changing lanes. It is impossible to fix these problems as long as our driving tests are over in 60 seconds or less and nearly 100% people pass in the first attempt. We must think and act like developed countries if we want to make our highways as safe as theirs. Anyone who passes the Indian driving test must be confident of passing similar test in any part of the world.”
Piyush Tewari, founder and CEO of SaveLIFE Foundation, an NGO working for safety on e-ways, said that more police presence is needed on roads.’
“There is a need for mobile enforcement, where police vehicles actively seek out such behaviour and use sirens to deter infractions. With regards to speeding, the recovery rate of electronic challans is low and there’s a need to impose more spot fines,” he said.