Painting speed limits with vehicle logo on pavement every 10 km to guide drivers on NHs, e-ways made must | India News

NEW DELHI: Considering speed and lane violations are the major causes of crashes, the road transport ministry has now made it mandatory for road owning agencies to paint the speed limits with vehicle logos on the pavement every 10 km to guide and alert the drivers on expressways and National Highways.
The ministry this week notified comprehensive guidelines for “Signage on Expressways and National Highways” which will come into force from February, 2025. Signage and road markings are key for safe driving since these are considered as the language of the road and every driver is supposed to have sound knowledge of this for safe driving.
Taking note of how highway commuters often miss the mandatory and informative signs such as speed limits, exit points and directions, the ministry has mandated placement of bigger signage at frequent intervals. For example, the speed limit signage must be placed every 5 km.
As per the guidelines, the highway owning agencies will have to ensure putting “no parking” signage every 5 km to inform the drivers. Road side parking on highways has been one of the key reasons for fatal crashes, particularly at night. Similarly, it specifies that the agencies must put adequate signage at every 5 km informing heavy and slow moving vehicles to drive on the extreme left lane.
The guidelines also say that the emergency helpline number must be displayed every 5 km. To alert drivers about the exit points from, the specific signage must be placed at least 2 km before such locations on expressways and highways. Similarly, signages must be put 5 km, 2 km and 1 km to inform commuters about wayside amenities.
“Improving the signage system is crucial. But the drivers also need to be trained about these signage. Officially it’s mandatory for any applicant for getting a driving licence to have good knowledge of signage, but this is hardly a reality on the ground,” said Deepanshu Gupta of IRSC, a youth-led organisation for road safety.
The ministry has also directed the agencies to install gantries mentioning the speed-wise lane dedicated information signs on expressways and NHs to guide the specific lane that a particular type of vehicle should take.