Bhubaneswar: In an attempt to reduce road mishap fatalities, the state government has directed Director General of Police (DGP) to implement lane driving in Commissionorate Police area in pilot phase.
Commerce and Transport secretary Madhu Sudan Padhi has written a letter to DGP Abhaya in this regard.
During 2019, 1,040 road accidents were occurred in the state due to wrong side driving and 445 persons are killed due to this. Therefore, strict implementation of lane driving regulations is of paramount importance for the reduction of accidents and fatalities in the state, Padhi said.
“For reduction of accidents and compliance of the direction of Supreme Court, steps may be taken for implementation of lane driving guidelines in Bhubaneswar -Cuttack Commissionerate Police area in the first phase for the safety of road users and to reduce traffic congestion. Subsequently, the lane driving guidelines may be implemented in other cities and highways,” he said.
Clause -6 of the Motor Vehicles (Driving) Regulations 2017 defines the guidelines of Lane Traffic. As per rules, lanes on both sides of the NH will be demarcated for the movement of specific category of vehicle. No other category vehicles can move on the lane.
As per the plan, the vehicles with up to 40-50-kmph speed will be allowed to move on the extreme left of the road, vehicles with up to 60-70-kmph in the middle and vehicles with speed up to 80-kmph will ply on the far right side of the road.