3D optical illusions as speed breakers
The road transport and highways ministry is planning virtual speed breakers to check the speed of vehicles on the roads. These speed breakers will use 3D painting to create an optical illusion for the motorists, thus avoiding the requirement of actual speed breakers. Such speed breakers will be used at the accident-prone spots to slow down the vehicles and ultimately improve road safety.
India: An alarming number of road accident deaths
5 lakh road accidents happen in India every year which is equivalent to 1 road accident every minute. Almost 1.5 lakh people die in the road accident in India every year which is equivalent to one road accident death every 3.5 minutes. Moreover, 3 lakh people get maimed in road accidents every year. The government aims to reduce these fatalities by half by 2019.
Centre tells states to remove speed breakers from highways
The Union Road Transport and Highways Ministry asked the state governments and agencies managing national highways to remove speed breakers from all national highways. These speed breakers not only hinder movement of traffic but are also a safety hazard and source of accidents on the highways. The ministry had also asked states to consider erecting foot-overbridges or underpasses for pedestrians.
Speed breakers are a major source of accidents
The Road Accident Report (2014) which was published by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH) states that 4,726 people died in crashes due to humps and 6,672 died in accidents due to potholes and speed breakers.
3D painting to start on experimental basis
The idea was posted by Union Transport Minister, Nitin Gadkari on twitter The 3D painting of speed bumps will start on an experimental basis. "We will test it out in a couple of highways at one or two points. If it doesn't cause any problem of road safety, we can experiment with it further" -Raghav Chandra, Chairman National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
Virtual speed breaker's success remains to be seen
There are certain challenges with the idea of 3D painted virtual speed breakers. The regular commuters who knows that it's just a painting, will not slow down and the whole purpose may get lost. A lot will also depend on the quality of the painting as it can fade after some time affecting the 3D effect of virtual speed breakers.
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