Speed governors on all commercial vehicles from Oct 1, 2015

One look at the 'Accidents in India' thread on the Team-BHP forum shows a high percentage of accidents involve a truck or commercial vehicle. The road transport ministry has now found a way to curtail high speed mishaps. Starting October 1, 2015, all commercial vehicles such as trucks, tempos, mini buses, buses etc. will need to install speed governors to limit their maximum speed to 80 km/h.

These speed governors will have to be installed either at the time of production of these vehicles or retro-fitted at the dealer level. Existing vehicles will need to install these devices by April 1, 2016. Interestingly, this proposal was passed last year as well (link to news article)

School buses, dumpers and vehicles carrying hazardous goods will be required to limit their top speed to 60 km/h. On the other hand, vehicles used by police, fire departments, ambulances and vehicles with up to nine passenger seats (including the driver) are not required to install any speed governor.

This is a welcome move to reduce fatalities caused on our highways due to speeding. Recently, the Government of India made ABS mandatory on all commercial vehicles in the country too, thus ensuring maneuverability of these vehicle under panic braking situations (link to news article). We wish stricter enforcement of road rules follows suit thus minimizing illegal turns, driving on the wrong side of the road and enforcing lane discipline among other things.

Source: The Economic Times