New speed limits in Delhi for all vehicles Simplifying Capital’s speed caps

NEW DELHI: Private cars and cabs can cruise at speeds of 60kmph on most of the Ring Road and Outer Ring Road, and 70kmph on most highways, the Delhi Traffic Police said on Friday, simplifying complicated and often confusing speed limits that varied frequently on the same stretch.

This is the first significant overhaul in the city’s speed limits since 2011, and comes at a time when the police have stepped up enforcement by installing a wide network of speed traps across the city. Speeding fines have jumped from 2.7 million in 2019 to over 8 million in 2020.

“There have been a number of changes/improvements in the road infrastructure in the city in past few years like construction of flyovers/underpasses, high speed/signal free corridors as well as improvement in vehicle technology. Further, there was a need to make speed limits uniform on Delhi roads as far as possible. Therefore, revision of the existing speed limits was felt necessary on Delhi roads,” said a statement from Meenu Choudhary, the joint commissioner of police, traffic operations.

This year, till June 1, over 1.5 million such fines have been issued.

Largely, the Capital will continue to remain a 50kmph zone on main roads, while residential areas will be a 30kmph zone. But the key changes are in some roads that have been widened or made signal-free in recent years – the limit on the Delhi-noida link road and the Barapullah Road, for instance, has been raised from 50kmph to 60kmph.

Most of the Ring Road and the Outer Ring Road too will be a 60kmph zone (except for a few specified stretches that are narrower or cut close to residential areas).

For the first time, the notification separately lays down limits for two-wheelers. People riding them will largely need to adhere to the same limits as private cars, but in no stretch can they exceed 60kmph (including in stretches where cars are allowed to go up to 70kmph).

Vehicles such as autorickshaws, which are used for public transport, can go up to a maximum of 40kmph.

The Delhi Police also set a tolerance limit of 5%, which means only those doing 53kmph in a 50kmph zone will get a fine. The new limits were notified in the Gazette dated June 8, which was released on Friday, putting the changes into effect immediately.

Choudhary said the decision to revise the speed limits was taken based on recommendations of speed review committee, comprising senior transport officials, enforcement agencies, and transport and