KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 1

Traffic police have introduced a new measure to curb overspeeding during night time when low presence of cops and virtually deserted roads prompt the motorists to hit the pedal.

SSP Janak Bhattarai, incharge at Metropolitan Traffic Police Division said it had started deploying cops armed with night vision laser speed guns to catch speeders at night from yesterday. The use of speed guns was launched long before and is still in place in Kathmandu valley.

Motorists have the tendency to overspeed in the night hours when the roads are almost empty, subjecting themselves to risk of fatal accidents.

'We have introduced a provision for checking the speed of vehicles with night vision laser speed guns to minimise the likelihood of road fatalities due to overspeeding during night hours,' SSP Bhattarai informed. According to him, the new road safety measures will be focused on the six-lane Koteshwor-Suryabinayak and the eight-lane Koteshwor-Kalanki road sections.

'We used to bring to book an average of 40 drivers for breaching the prescribed speed limit rules during daytime.

With the provision of night vision laser speed guns, we have been able to bring to book speeders even during odd hours,' he said.

Last night, traffic cops caught dozens of motorists for driving beyond the prescribed speed limit. The traffic rule violators were freed with warning for the first instance.

The maximum permissible speed limit along the Koteshwor-Suryabinayak and Koteshwor-Kalanki road stretches is 50 km per hour.

The high-tech device can measure the speed of a vehicle from 300 metres away. It can also take still video images of the vehicle in question.

Each traffic rule violator may be slapped with a fine of Rs 500, as per the Motor Vehicle and Transport Management Act.

A version of this article appears in the print on September 2 2021, of The Himalayan Times.