Sir, It was 6 am yesterday (24th February) when I left my house for my morning walk. At the Gokulam Road - Hunsur road junction, I noticed a Road Roller parked in the centre of the road. This was meant to stop traffic as road humps were being laid at the end of Gokulam Road and on Hunsur Road in front of Manasagangothri Gate. I was shocked to notice that being a highway there was no warning sign to caution the vehicles speeding on the road. Asphalt being black, there was no way the driver could see the hump in the still dark sky. It is a miracle that there was no fatal accident. An ambulance speeding nearly went off the road. So did a two-wheeler whose pillion was almost thrown off the vehicle. The height at the centre of the hump is nearly ten inches and a sudden bump for a speeding vehicle is life threatening. As per the Indian Road Congress, a road hump should be rounded with a radius of seventeen metres and have a width of 3.7 metres and 0.10 metres high at the centre. Further, the distance between two road humps should be a minimum of one hundred metres. There should be a warning sign 40 metres prior to the hump. None of these laid down are rules are complied with, either due to lack of knowledge or simply a lack of concern for human life and safety. More important than strictly enforcing the helmet rule, Police and PWD should ensure that our roads are safe to use by complying with safety norms. I request the authorities concerned to take immediate steps to rectify this mistake before someone gets hurt.
- Ashvini Ranjan, Jayalakshmipuram, 25.2.2018
