Caution! Unscientific Plastic/Fibre Speed-Breakers are nothing but “Life Breakers”?

Caution! Unscientific Plastic/Fibre Speed-Breakers are nothing but “Life Breakers”?

 Mangaluru : Even though Yours Truly had done three articles in the past, warning the motorists about the danger the unscientific Plastic/fibre black and yellow speed breakers pose, and also requesting the officials from the Transport Department and Traffic Police Department, to get rid of the same- unfortunately, last evening I was a victim of this unscientific plastic speed breakers, that a protruding bolt from the worn out speed breaker, pierced into my two-wheeler tyre, and I had to spend Rs 200 to call the person who fixes flat tyres/punctures. This kind of experience is faced not only by me, but many other motorists, especially two-wheeler riders- and with many the riders falling off their vehicles, due to these unsafe speed breakers, no action has been taken by the concerned officials or traffic police.

Even though not many of such plastic speed breakers exist in town, the ones which are dilapidated/worn out, are still creating a nuisance and safety hazard to motorists. And the bad part is that none of these have warning signs, while motorists approach close to them. Years ago the then Deputy Commissioner N Prakash had ordered the MCC to remove all those unscientific plastic/fibre black and yellow speed breakers stating that they were not durable, and not scientific. The bolts from these speed breakers will harm the vehicles. DC Prakash had advised the concerned authorities to remove all the plastic speed breakers and to install permanent and scientific speed breakers. Years later, once again such unsafe speed-breakers had been installed, which didn’t make any sense? Seems like when DC’s change, the speed-breakers also change!

Recently, Kumara Sathyanarayana, an Advocate from Mangaluru had raised his voice about these unscientific speed-breakers, and posted his message on the MCC Civic Group Wahtsapp page stating, ” Dear MLA’s Vedavyas Kamath and Dr. Bharath Shetty, First of all, I would like to congratulate and applaud you and your team and also our beloved minister for handling and tackling the Covid19 pandemic in our District. It is not an easy task. I sincerely acknowledge your efforts and dedication in this regard. Well, amidst the Covid19 pandemic, and the downpour of rain, I would like to draw your attention to a trivial yet serious matter.!”

“Sirs, speed bumps are definitely required to control the speeding vehicles inside the city and city limits. We have speed bumps across the city of Mangaluru at all such prominent junctions and places. Well designed to regulate the speeding vehicles. However, earlier, there were plastic / HDP speed bumps that were installed by fixing the same on the streets of the city. But, with the movement of heavy vehicles and increase in traffic, these speed bumps have worn out or have come off from the road. However, not the entire bump is ripped off. There are lots of places where there is residue of the plastic speed bumps. Even the steel screw and nails which were used to fix the said plastic bumps have not been removed!! The same are protruding out on the surface”.

“Now, coming to my issue. These residuals of plastic speed bumps and the nails and screws protruding out are causing serious problems to motorists. Well, in fact I have got my tyres ruptured thrice!! It has cost me around Rs. 14,000/- to get new tyres to my car. (An uncalled expenditure and a personal economic loss to me!!). And this has happened in a span of just 6 to 8 months of time period. Further, these half left plastic speed bumps and the protruding nails pose a serious threat to motorists on two wheelers. It might prove fatal to them.

So, dear representatives, I humbly request you to look into this issue and direct the officials of the City Corporation of Mangaluru to take appropriate steps in this regard and direct the officials to arrange for facility to remove the said remaining plastic speed bumps and the protruding nails at the earliest. This small act and timely action and intervention would help the general public of the city of Mangaluru to a great extent. Sirs, I hope, you would look into this issue and take necessary actions to resolve the same at the earliest time possible” mentioned the advocate. Will the MLA’s listen to his plea and do the needful, is a million dollar question, hard to get an answer?

Yes, accidents do happen due to these unsafe speed-breakers, and since no one reports these accidents to MCC or the traffic police, they still continue. How often have you been caught unawares by that huge bump or speed breaker on the road without a signboard warning before it? By an estimate, almost 90% of these humps in Mangaluru are unscientific. As per IRC standards, only narrow roads can have scientifically built parabolic humps and not main, wide roads. Then why do we have so many speed humps in the city ? Then why aren’t our city officials not following the rules ? And if they are constructing these speed breakers/road humps/speed bumps, then why aren’t they erecting caution signs about these speed controllers ?

In spite of rules that prohibit such speed breakers, it looks like even our city officials don’t follow the traffic safety laws. But the height of these breakers do not conform to norms that have been set by the Indian Road Congress (IRC). As per IRC, an ideal road hump should be 4 inches high and 11.5 feet wide, but however, not many Speed Humps in the city are designed as per IRC specifications.Two-wheelers and three-wheelers frequently lose balance due to the height of these breakers. Commuting has become very dangerous at night due to this, and especially for out-of-town motorists these speed breakers are very dangerous without any warning signs. Where the humps are actually needed to control reckless speeding by motorists, there are none of them-but on the other hand where speed breakers are actually not needed there are quite a few every few meters.

Frankly speaking, speed humps in the city continue to be a nightmare for motorists, thanks to unscientific designs and the absence of warning boards. These speed breakers pose a threat to motorists, instead of providing a safe and smooth ride. They seem to be executed as per the whims and fancies of the authorities of the PWD and Mangaluru City Corporation. While over-speeding and reckless driving cause accidents, unscientific speed bumps could catch a motorist unawares. The absence of white paint or radium-painting on these speed bumps pose a danger to motorists, especially at nighttime. Many of these speed humps lack markings, no lights overhead to alert motorists and no traffic signs to warn them in advance. The speed breakers should be parabolic for smooth road crossing and should be painted and properly illuminated.

Speed bumps are usually painted with black and yellow stripes to draw a driver’s attention before he reaches the bump. Without these indicators, drivers would hit the speed bump at higher speeds, resulting in a jolt to passengers and potential damage to the vehicle. When vehicles pass over these humps, the spine is hurt, and speeding vehicles often meet with accidents if they fail to slow down at these humps. The unscientifically installed road humps across the city is something that Mangaloreans need to complain about, as they not only pose a threat to the spines of motorists, but also to vehicles.

If the government follows the IRC norms, it will help reduce accidents in the city. Speed breakers should also be painted with the correct yellow and white marks, but that’s what is lacking here in the city. Does anyone care about it ?. Are our city and traffic authorities waiting for more casualties or what ? In the meantime it is learnt that Nigel Albuquerque, one of the Founder’s of MCC Civic Group has already sent a statutory pre-litigation notice to the concerned officials of MCC, DC, MLA, MP, Minister Kota Srinivas Poojary, MD of MSCL, Secretary General of Indian Roads Congress- New Delhi and others, demanding immediate action for removal of residuals of the plastic/fibre speed-breakers -, including the sharp steel/iron fixtures left behind by these speed breakers on city streets, within the territorial jurisdiction of MCC.

It is time for the commuters/motorists to raise their voices against these unsafe “speed breakers” which are ” life breakers” to the concerned local civic authorities. Let us do it for a good cause and for the safety of our lives and for the lives of the citizens. Safety is more important than being sorry later. Let’s do it, before it’s too late! .