GoM to expedite 'speed governors' in vehicles

In order to expedite installation of speed governors in commercial vehicles to check accidents, a ministerial panel will soon discuss the issue for effective nationwide implementation of the plan.
As far back as 2002, the Supreme Court had issued directions for fitting speed governors in vehicles, but that is yet to be implemented fully.
"Delay in installation of speed governors in commercial vehicles by states will be taken up in a meeting of the Group of Ministers (GoM) of states," National Road Safety Council Member Kamal Soi said after meeting Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari today.
He said the minister has assured that the issue will be taken up on an urgent basis with states and stringent technical and other specifications will be made to ensure that quality governors are installed.

"The installation of speed governors could not be implemented in the states due to lack of enforcement despite Supreme Court in the year 2002 issuing directions for fitment of speed governors to save lives to all the states," said Soi who is a global road safety expert.
As per a notification, all new transport vehicles such as trucks, buses and dumpers will need to install the gadget to limit their speed to 80 km per hour.

"As per a recent survey it is evident that commercial vehicles on highway with high speed are one of the main reasons for road accidents and deaths accounting for over 40-50 per cent of road accidental deaths," Soi said at a press conference.

"We are pleading with the state governments that the only way to ensure the effective state-wide implementation of the speed control is to install speed governors regime," he said.
The accidents could be curbed to a reasonable extent if the speed governors, mandated by the apex Court, are installed through a tender/eligibility criteria process, he said.
Some of the states have started working in this direction, he said, adding that while Karnataka has invited applications from manufacturers and has started the implementation, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have constituted committees for selecting bidders. Jharkhand, Haryana and Odisha too have invited applications from manufacturers.

Soi said he visited 14 states recently and discussed the issue with the officials concerned.
Centre had constituted a Group of Ministers, headed by Rajasthan Transport Minister Yunoos Khan to ensure stricter penalties in the proposed Road Safety Bill.
India accounts for about 5 lakh road accidents annually in which 1.5 lakh are killed and another 3 lakh are crippled.