Pay a fine if you cross Bengaluru-Mysuru highway in an hour or less

Bengaluru: Ever since the sectional overspeeding system began working on the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway, the state police have registered over 89,200 cases on the access-controlled stretch since the beginning of August. 

According to data shared by Alok Kumar, ADGP (Traffic and Road Safety), Karnataka, 89,221 vehicle users have been booked as of August 26 for sectional overspeeding, which is when the vehicles cross the maximum speed between two sections and therefore, cross the 119-km stretch within an hour. The speed limit on the stretch is 100 kmph. 

Additionally, 34,126 cases of speeding have been recorded by the 48 Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras on the stretch. 

Challans via SMS are automatically issued to the registered mobile number of the vehicle owner to offer "real-time deterrence effect", said Kumar. A majority of these violators are personal vehicle users. 

However, despite most personal vehicle users receiving a direct message about their violation, only about 5,300 people have paid their fines so far. 

"The compliance rate is low. Self-compliance is very low. People paying through the link provided on the SMS is very low, it's not encouraging. Most of the people who have paid did that during real-time checks by the police,” he said. 

Police officers will be posted at the Kempegowda Circle, Mysuru, Kanimanike Toll Gate or Gananguru Toll Plaza to catch speeding vehicles and collect fines on the spot, he added. 

Additionally, people crossing 130 kmph will have an FIR registered against them for dangerous driving. At least 400 such FIRs have been registered so far. 

The road saw three deaths each in April and May, nine in June, six in July and two in August, as of August 26. 

"If deaths due to accidents come down to zero and stabilise there for at least three months, we might consider submitting a proposal to the NHAI to increase the speed limit on the road," said Kumar. 

Plans to integrate the challan system with FASTag are still underway, with some concerns on the part of the National Highways Authority of India, who are mulling the pros and cons of enabling a system where traffic fines are deducted from the FASTag, it is learnt.