Bob Rupani

If the traffic police are determined, they can reduce traffic offences by strict policing of our streets and highways

Last month a function was held on the Mumbai Pune Expressway to inaugurate 56 height barriers. The state highway traffic police inspector reportedly said, “Height barriers are being installed on an experimental basis to prevent heavy vehicles from plying on the first (or fast) lane.”

Normally, the left lane is meant for heavy vehicles, the middle or second one for light vehicles, and the first or right lane is purely for overtaking. But you frequently find heavy vehicles even in the middle and fast lane, driving parallel to each other. This not only blocks traffic but makes faster vehicles weave around in an attempt to overtake, and this often results in accidents. This scenario is not just limited to the Mumbai-Pune Expressway; you find the same thing happening on most of our divided highways.