Revised road speed limit introduced in Kerala, commuters in trouble

The commuters complained that sign boards of revised speed limits have not been installed till now. As a result of which, they faced problems since different speed limits have been allowed on different roads.

Thiruvananthapuram: The newly revised speed limits that came into force in Kerala from today have left commuters in a soup.

The speed limit varies on different roads but no sign boards have been installed till now, commuters complained. They said that lack of sign boards posed to be a major challenge for them as they battled with the new system.

According to the new rules that were implemented on Saturday, auto-rickshaws, school buses and three-wheelers have been allowed to ply at the same speed limit on all roads, both urban and rural areas. The speed limits of all other vehicles are different depending on the kind of roads on which they are travelling.

According to a few commuters, the speed limit should have been introduced only after ensuring the riding quality of the roads while many suggested that awareness should have been generated on speed management prior to revising the speed limits.

On June 14, the government revised the speed limit for vehicles at a meeting chaired by Transport Minister Antony Raju. As reports suggested two-wheelers to be involved in accidents the most, the government has decreased their speed limit from 60 kmph to 50 kmph on city roads and from 70 kmph to 60 kmph on other roads.

For vehicles with upto nine seats the speed limit is 110 kmph on six-lane roads, 100 kmph on four-lane roads and 90 kmph on four-lane state highways, MC road and other national highways. The speed of the nine-seaters is 80 kmph on major district roads and state highways. It will be 70 kmph on other roads and 50 kmph on city roads.

The light, medium and heavy passenger vehicles will have to travel at 95 kmph on six-lane roads, 90 kmph on four-lane roads and 85 kmph on four-lane state highway, MC road and other national highways. The vehicles will ply at 70 kmph on major district roads and other state highways, 60 kmph on other roads and 50 kmph on city roads.

Similarly, for light, medium and heavy goods vehicles, the speed limit is 80 kmph on six-lane roads, 80 kmph on four-lane road and 70 kmph on four-lane state highway, MC road and other national highways. On major district roads and other state highways the speed limit is 65 kmph while it is 60 kmph and 50 kmph on other roads and city roads respectively.