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Father looses son to road hump..
Written By srinidhi - 11 May, 2009
Traffic Bangalore Design BBMP Road Works Complaint Speed breakers
..Having lost his son to a speed breaker, he made it his mission to save the lives of others and now has been successful in making the local administration in Bangalore work for the marking of road humps...
Read more about it here (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Bangalore/Bangalore-speed-breakers-to-be-marked/articleshow/4505702.cms). The report says the authorities have increased the size of the speed breaker !? What will increasing the size do? act as a launch pad vehicles? Another report in times today:
The BBMP’s traffic engineering cell (TEC) has set August as the deadline to complete construction of 384 such user-friendly ‘high pedestrian crossings’ across the city.
What is 'high pedestrian crossings'? The ones like we have in front of cash pharmacy on residency road?<br>
Btw are the two articles linked?
COMMENTS
sanjayv - 11 May, 2009 - 11:06
You can see many examples of the new speed breaker design in the city. One location is on airport road between HAL and Marathahalli, there are these speed breakers which are like a wide raised platform with reflector/blinkers embedded in the road on the approach. The platform is wide enough to serve as a pedestrian crossing. Definitely better than the old speed humps.
-Sanjay
s_yajaman - 12 May, 2009 - 03:22
Yes they are an improvement over the previous bone breakers. But do they really help a pedestrian cross safely?
a. Do they really slow down traffic enough? I have been over many of these in my taxi. They seem to take it at 25-30 kmph comfortably. No pedestrian (not including Usain Bolt!) is going to risk his life and limb darting across traffic at 25-30 kmph.
b. Lane discipline is pretty much non existent. Even if I were brave enough to take on a vehicle at 25 kmph, the next hazard becomes unpredictability of how many such vehicles I have to take on. I have slowed down/stopped for pedestrians only to find the bike/car behind me swerve and overtake. I sometimes wonder if I am putting that pedestrian's life at risk by my obeying the law!
Modifications needed
a. Put these BEFORE a zebra crossing so that vehlcles know that just after this we can expect pedestrians. Even if you have missed seeing it you know that you are going over one.
b. Put hard lane markers for about 20ft on either side - either using concrete flats or put bollards in the form of poles (the ones they use over dividers). That way vehicles follow a more predictable path.
c. Put those red cats eyes 50 ft before each of these so that I know something is coming up. Ideally put blinkers on each side of the road to warn cars.
Srivathsa
srinidhi - 12 May, 2009 - 07:49
the speeds just get reduced to 25-30 kmph..which is still high!
Another option si to have a small hump before the big one..this will surely bring down the pace to near zero..I see this in as we are heading from richmond road towards corporations near kanteerava stadium..just after woodlands
..or have rumblers like New Delhi has..this should slow them down
finally agree totally to Cadambi's last stmt..
srinidhi - 13 May, 2009 - 02:25
Was digging the internet for some standards set by transport ministry in India and found this:
..the hump of a speedbreaker should not exceed 45 mm and the curve at the top should not be longer than 3.7 m. The mounted area should be extended sideways for a minimum length of 5 m so that every driver has a breathing space to slow down...
However,
IRC:99-1988 - Tentative Guidelines on the Provision of Speed Breakers for Control of Vehicular Speeds on Minor Roads stipulates that a road hump should conform to the following dimensions: Height of 12.5 Cms, width of 200 cms and radius of 4 M.
Do the new speed breakers adhere to these norms?
mcadambi - 12 May, 2009 - 05:37
In as much as i express my condolences to the victim's family, i hope our society can learn from such experiences - and maintain lane discipline and speed discipline.
Almost all of our traffic problems will be solved if and only if we make an attempt to maintain lane discipline and speed discipline.
No amount of speed breakers, scientific or unscientific will solve our problems unless we ourselves make an effort to drive lawfully.
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