Speed governor for commercial vehicles must: Minister
2 min readPatna: State transport minister Santosh Kumar Nirala said on Friday speed governor would be installed in all commercial vehicles. Speaking at a workshop held here, he stressed the agencies installing speed governors have to ensure quality of devices.
Transport secretary Sanjay Kumar Agarwal said speed governor has been made compulsory for commercial vehicles under the Motor Vehicle Act 1988. Buses running on highways have to maintain a speed limit of 80km/hr and trucks 60km/hr. Similarly, taxis have speed limit of 80km/hr and autos 40km/hr. School buses have been asked to adhere to 40km/hr speed limit.
While the time limit for installing speed governor in school buses has been extended from the first week of April to the end of the month. “As on today, speed governor has been installed in over 1400 commercial vehicles, including school buses. Around 500 school buses are still left for installation of the device,” Agarwal said. Over 23 vendors have been selected to install speed governor in all commercial vehicles by the end of April,” Agarwal said.
The transport department has also made it mandatory for vehicles to have reflective tape for long-distance visibility and high-standard reflectivity. No time limit has been set for the same as of now. “In winter months, it especially helps to have reflective tape while experiencing foggy weather,” Agarwal added.
Three vendors have been finalized for the same. The department is in the process of finalizing more vendors to provide reflective tapes to the commercial vehicle owners. Reflective tapes are mandatory for all vehicles by Rule No. 104 of Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989.
The transport department also cancelled 850 driving licenses in the state. These initiatives have been taken with regard to the high rate of accidents in Bihar. According to state police headquarters data, altogether 35,579 people died and 48,543 were injured in around 70,000 road accidents across Bihar between 2010 and 2016.
Over 300 DTOs, motor vehicle inspectors and police officers from eastern districts of the state attended the workshop.
Courtesy: TNN
