Ring Road: Speed breakers turn vehicle breakers

[Salman]

Ring Road: Speed breakers turn vehicle breakers

LAHORE – Poorly designed speed breakers at various sections of Ring Road have become a constant threat for motorists and cause road accidents on daily basis, TheNation learnt on Tuesday.

The ill-designed speed breakers, constructed by City District Government with the consent of department of Highways are a violation of its own rules & regulations, as well as byelaws enacted by Punjab Local Government Department for the purpose. Moreover, the speed breakers have not been constructed according to the standard design and size, mentioned in the relevant laws, approved by CDG elected body a couple of years back.

It is thought that the speed breakers were being constructed to control over speeding or giving way to pedestrians to cross the roads in residential areas, until the construction of pedestrian bridges. However, the speed breakers defy the purpose of launching the Ring Road project, worth billions of rupees, to ensure speedy and smooth flow of traffic and to minimise the load of traffic on the City roads.

The Ring Road facilitates traffic not only from the City, but also the vehicles coming from other cities, including buses and trucks. But the authorities concerned have failed to erect any sign board, indicating the presence of speed breakers on the road, which may be the reason misjudgement on part of the drivers while travelling on the Ring Road.

It was witnessed by this scribe during a survey that many motorists could not control their vehicles when they applied brakes, as they failed to judge the presence of speed breakers or were not expecting their presence on a highway. It was also witnessed that most accidents occurred on the Ring Road at twilight.

The speed breakers also damage the wheels of the vehicles crossing them, as was evident from the noise produced when they passed the breakers. When this scribe tried to contact District Coordination Officer Noor ul Amin Mengal for comments, he was not available for his version in this regard.