Road safety is one of the important aspects of human life, especially in the urban areas where we see high volume of traffic on the roads. The situation on the inner roads of the residential sector is more or less the same.
The sector roads are repaired/carpeted, every 3–4 years. The old speed breakers are sometimes forgotten and submerged below and new ones are made at the same place or nearby. Later on, the speed breakers are painted with white paint which glows at night. The side continuous strips on both sides of the road are made to indicate the edge of the usable road. The dotted line in the centre of the road are put for two-way traffic. Zebra crossing is also made for pedestrian crossing.
But old speed breakers, although not promptly visible being underneath, reminds you of their presence when you cross over them. That is more dangerous as you are caught unaware by them to give you jerks. One may observe in our Sector 50 that speed breakers are made without following prescribed norms and they are too close to the crossings. Many new speed breakers have been made just on the request of residents in front of their house.
Is there any law to regulate speed breaker? Of course, Yes. As per Indian Road Congress (IRC), there are specifications prescribed for making speed breakers. It depends upon the type of road and the speed limits. Normally the speed limit in a residential area is prescribed at 20 KMPH and accordingly the specific dimension is to be followed for putting speed breakers.
But who is there to supervise the carpeting of the road? I have not seen any responsible official from Noida Authority or Traffic Police to see and check for compliance of prescribed procedure and specifications. Above all, not a single signboard is put to indicate “Speed Breaker Ahead” for motorists to slow down the speed. In the absence of such signage, sudden brakes or skidding of vehicle may lead to an accident that is dangerous not only to the motorist, but for the residents, especially the elderly and children, who may be walking beside the road or crossing it.
RWA and Noida Authority along with Noida Traffic Police jointly can take up this matter to put the adequate signage inside the sector indicating Residential area, Go slow, Speed limit, Crossing ahead, Pedestrian crossing, School ahead, Hospital ahead, etc. At the crossing, yellow blinkers to indicate “Crossing Ahead” will caution the motorist especially at night.
by Uday Sengar (E-19, Sector-50; 98185 89707)
