Over the past few days, frequent accidents have been reported on the Coastal Road due to speeding vehicles. In one such incident, a young woman and a police officer deployed on duty lost their lives. Action taken by authorities has revealed that some vehicles were clocked at speeds of up to 140 kmph inside the Coastal Road tunnel. To bring speeding under control, the traffic department has tightened enforcement. Traffic police have also warned that habitual violators will face direct criminal cases.
Between September 8 and January 12, traffic police issued 61,989 e-challans, imposing fines running into crores of rupees. Many drivers often lose control while driving at high speeds on this route. In an attempt to overtake, vehicles have collided with one another. On the other hand, several motorists using bus lanes and emergency lanes have worsened congestion and invited accidents. Accordingly, enforcement action includes penalties for overspeeding and misuse of bus lanes.
All these violations are being captured through ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) cameras. Speed limits have been fixed at 80 kmph on the main Coastal Road, 40 kmph at interchanges, and 60 kmph inside tunnels. Speed limit violations are most common late at night or in the early morning hours when the road is relatively empty.
The impact of enforcement through e-challans has increased after ANPR cameras became operational by the end of July. The e-challan system was introduced for tunnels on September 4 and for the entire Coastal Road project on September 27. As a result, the pace of enforcement has increased, with more than 500 e-challans being issued daily. In September, 16,852 challans were issued, which rose to 19,916 in October. The number dropped to 12,872 in November. Due to strict police action, speed control has improved, bringing the figure down to 9,909 in December and further to 3,225 in January.
Traffic police action is clearly helping curb speeding on the Coastal Road. According to information provided by the traffic department, a fine of ₹2,000 is imposed for overspeeding, while misuse of the bus lane attracts a fine of ₹500 for the first offence and ₹1,500 for subsequent violations.