 |
| Catching
speeding cars but ignoring dangerous driving. |
|
In
the days of the Premier Padmini, a well-tuned engine would give you a
fuel consumption figure of around 11-12kpl in the city. That’s roughly
the same figure you get even today if you take an average of the latest
crop of cars.
You would expect these modern machines, bristling with sophisticated hardware
that measures every molecule of fuel and optimally combusts it, to be
infinitely more fuel-efficient than the now-defunct Padmini. As a matter
of fact, they are. It’s just that the conditions in which they operate
are so highly fuel in-efficient.
Firstly,
most cars are now air conditioned (the Padmini was not) and a/c usage
increases consumption by 12-15 per cent. But a major factor affecting
fuel consumption today is the average speed which is dropping every year.
Ten years ago the average speed in Mumbai city was 26kph; today it is
down to 23kph. That drop alone will increase fuel consumption by 5-6 per
cent as journey times increase for the same distance travelled.
The impact of average speed in our fuel consumption tests serves to highlight
the importance of improving the traffic flow to reduce fuel consumption
and emission levels. Idling at traffic lights for half an hour on the
way back from work can consume a litre of fuel. In this respect, the building
of bridges and flyovers is the most environmentally friendly thing to
do and any ‘greens’ opposed to this should turn to page 67.
It might change their minds.
IT’S NOT THE SPEED THAT COUNTS
If you regularly drive down Marine Drive, in Mumbai, you might have noticed,
or even worse, got caught by the new speed camera that’s doing a
great job nabbing unsuspecting motorists who cross the speed limit, which
happens to be, umm, 60? 70? or is it 50kph? I’m not sure and I can
bet that neither are most of the drivers who have been zapped by this
high-tech radar gun. There is a speed limit board somewhere on Marine
Drive but you have to look hard for it.
Penalising motorists for speeding is fine but it would be nice if the
speed limit figure was clearly indicated. Besides, speeding, especially
if it’s a few kph above the limit, is not the most dangerous of traffic
violations. In fact, speeding is not an issue anywhere in India, where
road conditions simply do not allow you to get up to a seriously fast
rate of travel.
The real danger is negligent and rash driving and the traffic cops don’t
seem to do anything about it. Have you ever seen a bus driver pulled over
for barrelling into a roundabout when he doesn’t have right of way?
Or a cabbie who suddenly chops across three lanes of traffic, without
giving any indication, to pick up a fare? These low-speeds antics, potentially
more lethal than breaking the speed limit on a dual carriageway, happen
in full view of the police who simply turn a blind eye. It’s a case
of getting priorities all mixed up.
|
January 2001 