The condition of roads as well as the motor vehicles in our country have vastly improved since the olden days. However, our cities have continued with the antiquated speed limits. It is possibly in recognition of this fact that vide Notification No. S.O. 1522(E), published on 6th April, 2018, the Central Government (through the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways) came out with revised maximum permissible speed limits which could be prescribed by the various authorities. For instance, the maximum speed limit which could be prescribed for cars for roads within municipal limits has been increased to 70km/hr. 

However, despite the same, state governments / local authorities, including for Delhi, have failed to take cognizance of the same and rationalise the speed limits accordingly. Especially for a State / UT / city like Delhi, with well-developed infrastructure and long commutes, the speed limits need to be raised accordingly, or else they merely lead to harassment of its residents, in the form of hefty challans. Increasing speed limits to a rational extent will only ease the lives of Delhi-ites and is unlikely to have any adverse effects.

 

Needless to say, rash and negligent driving (irrespective of the speed of the vehicle) would continue to remain an offence, to be used by the law enforcement agencies, in appropriate cases.