Police set up patrols to catch speed demons on Ring Road

Mar 25, 2018-Metropolitan police have increased surveillance patrols on Ring Road following reports of hit and run and motorists exceeding speed limits.

Police have started patrolling the Koteshwor-Kalanki sector after reports of frequent accidents, noting details of vehicles and drivers in a bid to identify culprits easily in case of an incident.

Drivers of vehicles, plying the nearly 10-km stretch, have to register vehicle number, their name, time and contact number at Balkumari, Satdobato and Balkhu. Submitting details is mandatory for all the vehicles passing between 10pm and 5am.

According to Deputy Superintendent of Police Binod Silwal of the Metropolitan Police Range, Satdobato, police started monitoring vehicles and drivers as they found it difficult to trace those who hit and run.

Speaking to the Post, DSP Silwal said, “Some hit-and-run cases have been reported in recent months. There are no CCTV cameras installed on the stretch. We cannot track speeding vehicles and drivers as they flee immediately.

“We succeeded in identifying one driver in a hit-and-run case after two weeks. Increased monitoring will ensure that drivers drive carefully. Now we can produce evidence of vehicles involved in accidents as the time of them passing the road is recorded for verification.”

Two persons died in as many accidents at night along the Koteshwor-Kalanki stretch last month while six fatalities were recorded farther on the outskirts. Accidents have not been reported after we started keeping records of vehicles and drivers, said DSP Silwal.

There has been a public outcry for overlooking measures to keep road users safe. The main expressway has four lanes where vehicles can run at a speed of 50km per hour. However, the design does not have a separating median dividing the expressway. This would lead to fatal accidents, experts warn. Watchers have raised concerns over the negligible number  of overhead bridges and crossing points and the absence of road dividers, traffic lights and zebra crossings, whose presence improves pedestrian safety.

“There have been concerns about the engineering design that, perhaps, leads to accidents,” DSP Silwal said. “One pillion rider died when his motorbike fell into the space that divides the expressway and the service lane. Records show speeding drivers reach Koteshwor from Satdobato in five to seven minutes.”

source:www.kathmandupost.ekantipur.com