Clear stretches across less populated areas hub of 'speed driving'

There are a section of people who flout norms even when Bengal has come up as one of the best states in checking road accidents and creating awareness among people with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's statewide campaign of Safe Drive Save Life.

Vivek Sahay, ADG (Traffic and Road Safety), said: "Many people have a wrong notion that there are no speed limits on expressways or highways. It is on that basis that they seek to justify speed driving. But it is not so. There are speed limits for all vehicles."

It may be mentioned that there is a group of people in and around Kolkata who have formed clubs and go out with their high-end expensive cars or two-wheelers for "recreational speed driving," especially on Sundays.

There are stretches on National Highway 2 which are straight and pass through thinly populated areas. The stretch mainly falls under the jurisdiction of Jamalpur, Memari, Burdwan and Galsi police stations and is straight where vehicles can be plied at high speed. Another such stretch is at Gurap in Hooghly.

Concerned senior police officers have recently visited the spots in this connection. Interestingly, there are around 3,500 cars in Kolkata which cost more than Rs 90 lakh. Some of these cars cross 500 hp in power output and can easily cross 200 km per hour. Police maintain a vigil to avoid over-speeding of vehicles and the number of prosecution cases for the same has also gone up manifold compared to that of the past few years. It is not only the case of high-end vehicles but any vehicle that over speeds comes under the purview of prosecution. Last year only 75 speed cameras were installed in districts to check speeding and it resulted in a major drop in road accidents.