47% of motorcyclists in Delhi exceed speed limit after dark

Time of India

17 hours ago

One of the dangers on city roads, especially at night, is the motorcycle that whizzes by at a speed in excess of the limits. A study by an American organisation showed that the average speed of motorcycles that exceeded the mandated limits in Delhi was 66 kmph, much higher than the average of 43 kmph of those riding within speed limits. The study also found that 47 per cent of all motorcyclists exceeded speed limits at night compared with 33 per cent in daytime.
The study by
Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit
and
Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety
(BIGRS) also showed that at known traffic blackspots, speeding motorcycles were even faster, averaging 68 kmph. The tendency to speed varied by road type, with 33 per cent of motorcycles speeding on arterial roads against 28 per cent on local and collector roads and only 18 per cent on expressways. The speed limits on various roads range from 50kmph to 60kmph.
Weekends see a noticeable uptick in speeding among motorcyclists, with the percentage of speedsters being as high as 44 per cent in April 2024 against 38 per cent on weekdays in the same period.
While motorcycles account for a significant portion of speeding vehicles, it is actually the heavy vehicles that are the most notorious offenders, with nearly half of them (49%) exceeding speed limits. Commercial vehicles too are habitual violators at 42 per cent but light motorcars are more respectful of the limits with 33 per cent of them exceeding them.
The outcome of the study is corroborated on the ground, with two-wheeler riders comprising 38 per cent of road accident deaths in 2023. Specifically, 549 motorcyclists died in road crashes that year. A traffic officer said that speeding, reckless driving, drunk driving and failure to use safety accessories like helmets were the main factors for the fatalities.
The officer also conjectured that motorcyclists tended to speed at night and on arterial roads because of availability of road space, less traffic and fewer police patrols. Weekend spikes in speeding might be linked to recreational travel, less cautious behaviour and drunk driving. Poor policing and drawbacks in road infrastructure also fail to deter speeding, he said.
In all aptness, chief minister Rekha Gupta formally launched the 'helmet wearing consequences' campaign from Connaught Place on Thursday. She said the objective of the campaign was to highlight how the negligence of not wearing a helmet can endanger the riders' lives and of their loved ones.
The broader trend in Delhi shows the proportion of speeding vehicles among all vehicles increased from 27 per cent in dec 2021 to a peak at 42 per cent in April 2024 before declining slightly to 35 per cent by April this year. Despite the recent dip, the data points to a worrying tendency towards speeding in the past few years, particularly among commercial and heavy vehicles.
Experts warn that speeding on motorcycles, especially during risky hours and on major roads, substantially increases the likelihood of accidents and severe injuries. They urged the authorities to implement targeted enforcement and safety campaigns to curb this dangerous behaviour, focusing also on late-night riders and weekend speedsters.