Speed governors must for out-of-State vehicles

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: With the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday deciding to make speed governors mandatory for transport vehicles, all vehicles, including lorries and other goods carriers plying in the State, would have to install the device even if they are not registered in Karnataka.

The court said it was concerned about the safety of the people of Karnataka and asked the Government to ensure that goods vehicles from other States fall in line with the rule.

The court noted that Rule 118 of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, stated that certain categories of vehicles must be fitted with speed governors. The speed shall be so set that a driver could not go beyond the stipulated speed. In Karnataka, the Transport Department has set the speed limit at 60 kmph. Though Rule 118 came into force on July 1, 1993, the State Government only issued a notification on March 28, 2005, making speed governors mandatory. Subsequently, the Government kept issuing notifications postponing the implementation of the scheme. The last notification issued in January 22, 2007, was extended indefinitely ,for old vehicles to install speed governors. Appearing for the Lorry Owners’ Association, senior counsel Jayakumar Patil, said there are nearly 2.59 lakh lorries and that it would be difficult to ensure that all of them are fitted with the device. He said that speed governors should be made mandatory at the national level so that all States follow suit. The court was later told that the Centre had amended the Central Motor Vehicle Rules and the State too had issued a notification last year empowering States to insist that all vehicles plying on their roads must be fitted with speed governors.