It is a matter of great relief that the Karnataka State Lorry Owners and Agents Association (KSLOAA) has called off its two-day-old strike which had resulted in a a lot of hardship to the people with nearly 3 lakh trucks staying away from roads on the contentious issue of installation of speed governors on the vehicles. The agitation has been withdrawn after the state government assured the association that the speed governors would not be insisted upon for the old vehicles. However, it has been made clear that the installation of the gadget which will limit the speed of vehicles to a maximum of 65 km will be insisted upon for the newly registered vehicles. The stand-off between the state government and the lorry owners over the last two days has had a cascading effect with the goods vehicles coming from the neighbouring states also being stranded at the border check posts in Hosur, Chittoor, Belgaum and Solapur. Though the agitators had promised to exempt the transportation of essential supplies from the strike, it appears that the movement of petrol, diesel and gas had been affected and had the strike continued, there would have been serious repercussions on the economy of the state. But, fortunately, better sense prevailed before the situation went out of hand.

The truckers’ association has argued that it is not totally opposed to limiting speed if that is what the authorities desired, but there has to be an uniform policy on such issues all over the country. It appears that so far Kerala is the only state which has successfully implemented the installation of speed governors and a legislature committee of Karnataka recommended that the state should follow suit after taking into account high incidence of accidents on its highways. The KSLOAA argues that the speed governors can damage the engine if they are not in-built and the truck manufacturers refuse to honour warranty if such damage is caused subsequently. The association also points out that the speed governors currently available in the market are expensive and would add to the cost of maintenance of vehicles.

Though nobody can argue with the need for safety on the roads, the state government would do well to reconsider the speed limit, especially on roads like the golden quadrilateral which are meant to help speedy movement of vehicles. Karnataka should also take up the issue with its neighbouring states to adopt a uniform policy as otherwise the vehicles registered in Karnataka could face a handicap in terms of transportation business.