When speed breakers turn into death traps

Many feel that there is no need for many speed humps in a City like Bangalore. Karthik R, who works in an event management company, says that even though many speed humps are not required, they have a purpose. 

“To make the roads safer, there should be proper markings on these speed breakers. They cause unwanted traffic blocks and confusion. I met with an accident when I was in college due to a speed breaker and I feel many of these are death traps,” he says. 

He adds that there are many speed humps near Varthur with no white stripes on them.

“Also the ones in areas like TC Palya do not have any reflective lights around them,” he points out.

Locating these speed humps can be a threat at night, especially for people who drive back late, says Vikram Arjunan, a post-graduate student. 

“If humps are there for a cause, they should be well-maintained by the authorities with proper white lines so that they don’t lead to accidents. There are so many humps, like the one near Beijing Bites in Frazer Town, which are not maintained properly and have no markings. Such humps can alarm a motorist,” he states.

There have been instances of a serious damage being caused to a vehicle at night due to these speed breakers. 

“Last week when I was passing by Richmond Town, the road was tarred and I couldn’t spot the hump. So I went right over it. The silencer of my car got scratched but I was lucky that nothing major happened,” says Joshua Samuel, principal of Baldwin’s Methodist College. 

Joshua feels that checks should be conducted on speed humps at least once in three months as because of rains, the paint on them can fade away.

Cyclists are the most vulnerable people on the roads and say that despite being extremely careful, they have the worst experiences due to these invisible humps. 

“Speed hump is the worst nightmare for a cyclist. I met with a serious accident a few months back at Sadashivanagar. It gets really hard to spot a speed hump especially when there is no street light and also no markings or reflectors,” says Vivek Radhakrishnan, a cyclist. 

He adds, “Whenever I’m back from a trip abroad, it strikes me hard — the bad condition of the road and infrastructure on the whole.”

The traffic department says that the work on these humps is on. B Dayananda, additional commissioner of police (traffic), says, “We are in the process of painting the speed breakers. We have located humps which do not have proper indications on them and the agency, which has the tender, is doing the work.” 

He adds that road studs (lights) will also be installed around these humps so that motorists can locate them from afar.