Maximum speed of 100 kmph imposed to discipline commuters; suitable decision soon, says Pratap Simha

Mysore/Mysuru: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is mulling on increasing the speed limit on the Mysuru-Bengaluru Expressway from the existing maximum speed of 100 kilometres per hour (kmph).

“The NHAI is planning to increase the speed limit in the due course as the Expressway has been built to reach 120 kmph. But the exact speed limit beyond which penalties will be imposed has not been finalised,” said Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha.

He was speaking after inspecting a stretch of National Highway 766 (earlier, NH 212) near JSS College yesterday where he said that the Highway from Mysuru till the Kerala border will be developed at a cost of Rs. 127 crore. The MP was accompanied by the officials from the NHAI. From Mysuru to Nanjangud, the Highway will be widened into 6 lanes and from Nanjangud till the Kerala border, it will be a 4-lane road.

“As of now, the speed limit on the Mysuru-Bengaluru Expressway is 100 kmph and the limit has been set to curtail overspeeding and those who violate rules are being penalised. The design of the Expressway permits a speed up to 120 kmph. The speed limit has been imposed to discipline the commuters. Due to this, accident rates have also come down,”    the MP said.

“Our intention is to enforce discipline among commuters and prevent reckless driving. The decision to increase the speed limit and the actual speed will be taken later once safety is taken into consideration,” Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha said.

At present, the NHAI is implementing the truck lane on the Expressway to prevent trucks from moving on other lanes. Once the dedicated truck lane is set up, all the trucks have to move on that particular lane.

“Now often we see trucks flouting the lane discipline and even entering the speed lane and then moving slowly, obstructing other vehicles, sometimes leading to accidents,” the MP added.

Meanwhile, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Traffic and Road Safety, Alok Kumar has posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Sept. 5 that surprise checks on the Expressway will continue.

Posting the images of vehicles that have been booked on X, the ADGP said, “In the backdrop of satisfying August accident data, conducted a surprise check on Bengaluru-Mysuru Highway Violations observed — overspeeding, lane violation and two-wheelers. 15 vehicles booked. Such checks will continue in future too.”