In a bid to control road accidents and to ensure public safety, Karbi Anglong District Road Safety Committee has introduced the ‘time-card system’/speed limit card from Sarihajan point to Silonijan and Garampani area of NH-129 (erstwhile NH-39) under Karbi Anglong district.
According to the time-card system, vehicles should adhere to the speed limit mentioned in the time-card issued by the police while moving along the stretch. A vehicle should cover the distance as per the time slot mentioned in the card.
Addressing the media at Sarihajan Friday, Superintendent of Police Karbi Anglong Sanjiv Kumar Saikia said that the objective to introduce the system was to cut down on road mishaps particularly along the stretch from Sarihajan upto Garampani.
He said that overspeeding was the primary reason behind road accidents. This system would restrict the speed limit of all vehicles playing along the mentioned stretch.
Considering the peak time of the accidents based on data analysis, he said the time-card/speed limit cards were being issued on trial basis from Sarihajan Tinali point between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m., and 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. Accordingly, the vehicles would have to reach Garampani point in 40 minutes and Silonijan in approximately 34 minutes.
He warned that failing to comply with the scheme would force the police to deal with the vehicle owners as per the Motor Vehicles Act.
Saikia stated that based on inputs, the timings would be changed and the scheme extended to other areas in the district, adding that law enforcement agencies would be simultaneously strictly monitoring the vehicular movement manually during the peak time.
Citing data analysis, SP said that in most cases the vehicles were found driven at 120 km per hour between Bokajan and Barpathar, even though the speed limit in the area was 60 km per hour.
He disclosed that as per data, 79 fatal road mishaps were reported in Karbi Anglong (NH-129) in 2023, out of which 33 accidents occurred between Bokajan and Barpathar.
SP also said that most of the vehicles in road mishaps along the stretch were Nagaland registered vehicles. He referred to a recent incident where four lives were lost on December 18 when a Nagaland registered Gypsy collided head-on with an Assam registered Mahindra Thar.
The launching programme was also attended by SDPO Bokajan, SDO (Civil), Addl SP (Crime), District Transport Officer, Executive Engineer (PWD) and other officials.