Who will rein in the heavy vehicles?

It was sheer providence that there was no fatality even after a cement mixer truck turned turtle on an SUV with six people in it. <i>DNA</i> asks: While bikes, because they are vulnerable, are banned on JJ flyover, why is there no control on the killer trucks of Mumbai?

Expert view

Impose lane system strictly
The city has limited space so it is not feasible to have separate lanes for heavy and light vehicles. Hence, we need to focus on creating better driving sense. Any person driving a heavy vehicle should have driven or had a driving license for at least five years. Unlike in other countries, we don't follow a strict 'lane system' wherein there is a fast lane and a slow lane. Also there are designated lanes and specific timings for heavy vehicles to enter city limits. We also need to help drivers improve their skills. Apart from this, there should be stringent punishment for culprits. This will help us make our roads safer.
—Jagdeep Desai, founder trustee, Forum for Improving Quality of Life in Mumbai Suburbs

Existing laws are enough
Going by the facts, the Andheri mishap seems to be a result of reckless driving. I don't think there is any need to bring about a new law pertaining to faulty driving. The existing Motor Vehicle Act comes with enough provisions to frame culprits and make our roads safer. There are specific rules for heavy as well as light motor vehicles. Moreover, forbidding heavy vehicles from using flyovers isn't a viable option. It's time authorities concerned take stringent action against the culprits. Reckless driving is a criminal offense under the Indian Penal Code.
—Mubin Solkar, criminal lawyer (represented bikers on JJ flyover ban case)

Traffic calming measures need to implemented
An object in motion at a uniform speed on a curve is subjected to a constant centrifugal force that is directed away from the center of curvature. This force acts at the centre of mass of the object. In case of a vehicle, if the overturning moment due to this centrifugal force exceeds the stabilising moment from self weight, overturning will occur. During negotiating a curve, if there is an application of sudden acceleration or deceleration for whatever the reason, there is a possibility of skidding taking place and the vehicle getting out of control. In such conditions, the overturning moment may exceed the stabilising moment from self weight and over turning may occur even when otherwise a vehicle is negotiating the curve safely. Therefore it is extremely important to ensure that heavy vehicles as well as light vehicles move within certain speeds. This is not possible by enforcing the rule alone since there are stray instances of people in a hurry, overlooking the basic safety discipline and overturning waits for no enforcement agency to keep the speeds down. One should also know that the fatality probability of a person hit by a car moving at 50 kmph is more than 80% while hit by a car moving at speed around 30 kmph, it drops to about 20%. Therefore urban areas traffic calming measures by Road Design are essential. Even on JJ Flyover, if proper traffic calming measures were taken, motorised two wheelers will not experience skidding. One just has to follow Newton's Equations of Motion and basic principles of mechanics for getting proper design.
—Sudhir Badami, transportation activist



Separate lanes for heavy vehicles
Accidents cannot be stopped but there are ways to minimise them. But I’m not sure how it can be we achieved? Just by banning bikes or heavy vehicles on certain roads or flyover is not the solution. The only viable way to decrease accidents would be to have separate lanes and designated time for heavy vehicles to ply on city roads. But with limited space and infrastructure, I don’t think it is possible in near future. Therefore, we need better infrastructure and traffic sense.
—Ajay Bijoor, consultant

Allow trucks to ply only at night
I think the transport authorities should rein in and control the plying of heavy vehicles. They should only be allowed to ply at nights, especially on roads that are busy and lead to densely populated areas. An accident involving a heavy vehicle, blocks the roads for hours, as does huge vehicles entering narrow lanes and roads. Added to this, they do not maintain any road discipline and it is high time the plying of these heavy vehicles on Mumbai roads are properly streamlined.
—Smruti Desai, lead instructional designer

Employ police at every 200 meters
I don’t think we can have separate regulations for various  vehicles. Instead, we just need to adhere to the current rules. There are other ways of making our roads safer. We need to  have zero-tolerance towards potholes, illegal parking; and punish road contractors and BMC officials for any bad job. All vehicles plying on the roads must carry their service record along with their other documents.  Employ traffic police on the road every 200m to check for road safety violations.
—Ramji Rajamani, sr specialist instructional designer

Ban them from taking flyovers
The point of flyovers is to make life of daily commuters convenient. Heavy vehicles and dumper trucks not only clutter routes, but also pose a serious safety hazard. Such commercial vehicles do not need to use these routes because of the risk they offer to other vehicles, especially because of the high speed they ply in. I think they should be banned on flyovers. We need strict rules because even though heavy vehicles are not allowed on the first lane, almost all of them use it causing traffic snarls.
—Jehana Vazifdar, student