Mumbai road safety: Unmarked speed breakers turn roads into accident hotspots

Mumbairsquos bustling roads face a silent menacemdashspeed breakers that are either poorly marked or entirely unmarked turning crucial safety measures into accident hotspots While designed to slow down vehicles these improperly maintained speed breakers are creating more problems than they solve particularly for twowheeler riders and motorists navigating the cityrsquos traffic A recent midday survey revealed a concerning number of unmarked speed breakers in the cityrsquos major arteries increasing the likelihood of accidents especially at nightmidday filed a Right to Information RTI query to obtain data on road accidents fatalities and injuries in Mumbai between 2013 and 2023 In response the Mumbai Traffic Police provided data from 2013 to 2021 Between 2013 and 2021 a total of 4514 people died in road accidents in Mumbaimdash3780 men and 734 women Shockingly 2326 51 per cent of these victims were pedestrians followed by 1142 25 per cent bikers and 493 pillion riders Additionally 190 car drivers and 111 copassengers were killedAn autorishaw whizzes by a barely visible speed breaker on the AndheriGhatkopar Road PICNIMESH DAVEWestern SuburbsLokhandwala Back Road ndash Andheri WestDuring a visit to the Lokhandwala Back Road in Andheri West we noticed that the speed breakers on the route towards the Oshiwara depot signal via Millat Nagar lacked visible white markings This makes it challenging for twowheeler riders and motorists to safely navigate the areaResidents have expressed concerns and believe the BMC should prioritise painting the speed breakers with visible white stripes to enhance nighttime visibility and help prevent accidentsUnmarked and damaged speed breakers on the AndheriGhatkopar Road between the Saki Naka and Asalpha Metro Blue Line 1 stations PICsNIMESH DAVESenior citizen Yatindra Pal a Lokhandwala resident voiced concern about the stretch leading to the Oshiwara Link Road junction pointing out that the speed breakers lack visible markings which can cause vehicle damage and pose risks especially to seniors like himselfKaran Jotwani founder of Buddy Riders and a Lokhandwala resident added that while the BMC has installed signage for speed breakers many on the back road towards Millat Nagar and Oshiwara are difficult to seeldquoThis poor visibility has caused cyclists to trip and injure themselvesrdquo Jotwani said criticising the quality of paint used ldquoCheap acrylic paints are applied instead of durable reflective coatings causing the markings to wear off within ten days Polyurethane coatings as specified by the Indian Road Congress should be usedrdquo he emphasisedAarey Milk Colony Internal RoadDuring a visit to the internal road in Aarey Milk Colony from the VIP Guest House junction towards the New Zealand Hostel and towards Western Express Highway WEH from the internal road we observed that the speed breakers lacked white markings This makes it difficult for twowheeler riders and motorists to see them increasing the risk of accidentsIn the past midday reported on how many internal roads in Aarey Milk Colony suffer from nonoperational street lights and unmarked speed breakers further elevating the danger for vehicles needing to apply emergency brakes when approaching these obstaclesAditya Shinde a resident of Aarey said ldquoThe internal road from New Zealand Hostel to Goregaon exit of WEH is frequently used and the nonoperational street lights combined with unmarked speed breakers make it dangerousrdquoSaki Naka to Asalpha ndash GhatkoparAndheri Link RoadOn the GhatkoparAndheri Link Road between Saki Naka and Asalpha Metro stations there are at least three speed breakers on a 1 km stretch all of which are damaged and unmarked This has caused confusion for motorists Rickshaw drivers report that the speed breakers often damage vehicles especially at night when they are not visible from a distance Tausif Siddique a Saki Naka resident noted ldquoThese speed breakers are huge and unmarked confusing motorists especially bikers and threewheeler drivers At night they become particularly dangerousrdquoDanger zonesCityNaigaonThere is a huge partially marked speed breaker near the BMC Labour Camp on Mumbai Marathi Granth Sangrahlaya Road ldquoThe speed breaker here is very high and uneven Motorists and twowheeler riders have been facing problems negotiating it and we have complained to the BMC and the traffic police several timesrdquo said Rugved Kanade ldquoThese bumps are painful on the back and create difficulties when senior citizens ride pillion on twowheelers The height of this speed breaker needs to be reducedrdquo added a residentMatungaIn Matunga East there is a lane between ICT UDCT and Don Bosco school that has two large speed breakers which are poorly designed ldquoThe speed breakers may be necessary but they are badly constructed They scrape the chassis of cars even when driven over at a very slow speedrdquo said activist Gaurang DamaniNear Badhwar Park ColabaThe markings on the speed breaker near Don Bosco school in Matunga have faded PicRajendra B AklekarThere are speed breakers on both sides of the main road at the entry gate of the railway colony at Badhwar Park While they do help slow down vehicles they are unmarked and cover only the central part of the road causing bikers and twowheeler riders to swerve and avoid them ldquoThe speed breakers should cover the entire road not just the traffic lanes Twowheeler riders skip them and speed away Our fishermenrsquos colony is right along the stretch and there are children and women walking here which makes it riskyrdquo said Surya Gaokar a local residentNear Sassoon DockThe speed breaker near Sassoon Dock Road in Colaba is another example of an incomplete speed breaker It was once marked but the paint has almost worn out making the markings barely visible at night ldquoThe speed breaker needs to be repainted In fact all the speed breakers on the Colaba stretch need a complete makeover and fresh paint so they are clearly visible Also they donrsquot cover the entire road leaving gaps for bikers to pass throughrdquo said Sagun Shah a resident3rd Pasta Lane ColabaThe smaller lanes of Colaba have rubber speed bumps which are not only ideal but are also broken These were installed quickly but due to poor maintenance many are now broken turning them into danger zones rather than safety features ldquoThe small yellow strips are broken in places and twowheelers get stuck in them if they are at speed You canrsquot even bypass them Theyrsquore not just danger zones but they also damage vehicles and tyresrdquo said local resident Anmol KhandeSpecificationsThe Indian Road Congress recommends speed breakers should have a radius of 17 metres a height of 10 cm and a width of 37 metres to maintain a vehicle speed of 25 kmph for the general traffic ldquoThere are specifications for the size of speed breakers based on the road size Speed breakers are usually constructed at pedestrian crossings However all speed breakers must be painted like zebra crossings so they are visible to motorists and avoid lastminute confusionrdquo said Girish Arekar a council member of the Indian Road CongressEastern SuburbsAn unmarked speed breaker outside Kurla depot on LBS RoadPICASHISH RAJEOutside Ghatkopar depotThe road opposite Ghatkopar depot is part of the GhatkoparAndheri Link Road Currently work on the Ghatkopar West Connector is underway on this road The speed breaker opposite the entrance to the Ghatkopar depot is badly damaged and there are no markings on it Sachin Manjrekar a resident of Ghatkoparrsquos Pant Nagar said ldquoThe speed breakers at Ghatkopar depot are in poor condition Now the road has become narrower due to the ongoing work on the connector I saw some bikers struggling as the speed breaker is not visible even from a short distance causing them to lose balancerdquoKurla LBS RoadLal Bahadur Shastri Road LBS Road is the main road in the eastern suburbs but in Kurla damaged and unmarked speed breakers create a terrible driving experience especially between Phoenix Market City and Kurla Court There are around seven speed breakers along the 4 km stretch all of them damaged and unmarked One biker told midday on condition of anonymity ldquoI regularly travel from Ghatkopar to Sion via LBS Road There are speed breakers only in Kurla These speed breakers are large and unmarked Since I use this road often Irsquom aware of their locations but at night motorists get confused because they are not visiblerdquoDharaviSionBandra Link RoadThere are two large speed breakers on SionBandra Link Road between Maharashtra Nature Park and Dharavi BEST depot These speed breakers are not marked Locals mentioned that the speed breakers were marked in the past but the markings have faded At night motorists struggle to spot these speed breakers increasing the risk of accidentsAn outofshape speed breaker lacking visible markings near Sarvodaya hospital in GhatkoparPICASHISH RAJESpeed breakers as the words say means those traffic calming features which are designed to make drivers lose speed ie slow down They can be visual like Go Slow signs on the road or on boards or physical like rumble stripes bumps humps out of asp vents rubberised plastic etc or raised pedestrian crossings Mostly up to 100 mm in height to not damage the axles of low ground clearance vehicles And a width that allows the reasonably smooth rise and drop of the vehicles moving on them Presently the rogue speed breakers of asphalt and cement are laid by unsupervised daily wage labour which causes all kinds of damage and danger to users Though these are just one of the many unscientifically designed features on all of our roads Jagdeep Desai architect academician and founder trustee and chairperson of the Forum for Improving Quality of Life in Mumbai saidLokhandwala resident and networking expert Sampath Iyenger emphasised the need for better road safety measures He noted Paint on speed breakers often fades quickly and reflective cat eyes should be installed at the base of all speed breakers Currently none of them meet the IRC 99 standards and we must ensure that Indian Road Congress specifications are implementedBMC StatementA Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC official stated that speed breakers are constructed after receiving applications and suggestions from local residents and authorities Once the applications are received inputs are taken and the traffic police division is consulted ldquoIf approved the process of building a speed breaker begins usually handled by wardlevel offices It is the responsibility of the official concerned to ensure the speed breakers are constructed according to guidelines Any deviations should be reported to the BMC which will then be addressed by the Roads Departmentrdquo says the statementCop SpeakSenior city traffic police officialldquoWe generally inform the BMC regarding the need for a speed breaker In other cases when citizens approach us for speed breakers at specific locations we first inspect the area and assess its potential impact on traffic flow as well as the surroundingsmdashsuch as whether there is a school or college nearby that would require a speed breaker for childrenrsquos safety After a thorough assessment we issue a No Objection Certificate NOC and inform the civic body of the requirementrdquo a senior traffic police official saidIs there an unmarked speed breaker in your neighbourhood Tell usmidday is running a campaign to have unmarked and dangerous speed breakers fixed to proper specification with reflective stripes If you know a spot that we must highlight let us know at mailbagmiddaycom with a photograph and the exact location10 cmRecommended height of speed breakers