Union road transport secretary Anurag Jain said govt is not in favour of increasing the maximum speed limit from the current 100 kmph to 120 kmph on national highways until there is significant improvement in discipline among road users, including drivers.
On controlling vehicular pollution, he also suggested that there is a need to either convert vehicles manufactured before 2000 (pre-BS) or to phase them out.
On whether there is any plan to increase the speed limit, Jain said, “We will think of increasing the speed limit the day there is improvement in road discipline in our country. I have suggested to our minister that we should not increase the speed limit.” He said over four lakh road crashes and 1.5 lakh deaths are a matter of huge concern.
Though Union road transport minister Nitian Gadkari has spoken about increasing the speed limit, last week he also spoke about large-scale violation of traffic rules while speaking at the Global Safety conference. “Large-scale violations of traffic rules and lane driving are coming in the way of increasing the maximum speed limit even on access-controlled highways,” he had said.
