Road rumblers to break Siliguri vehicles’ speed

SNS | Siliguri: To put a check on road accidents, police are laying low-lying rumblers on roads in Siliguri that many vehicle operators say are helpful and better than the traditional speed-breakers.

Thin layers of black-and-yellow stripes create a vibration vehicles pass over them, forcing the drivers to slow down.

The Kolkata Traffic Police has taken an initiative to install such speed-breakers as part of the ‘Safe Drive Save Life’ campaign across the state.

The Siliguri Metropolitan Police is helping in identification of the sites. “The purpose of the rumblers is to prevent accidents and alert drivers. The rumbler strips are set up on roads in lanes. Around 70% work of laying the rumblers have been completed,” said deputy commissioner of police, Siliguri Traffic, Sunil Yadav.

A rumbler is a kind of speed-breaker that has several bumps that are low and spread across a certain length of the road at short and regular intervals.

Experts associated with road constructions said rumblers were a better alternative to traditional speed-breakers. A city auto operator, Debnath Das, said speedbreakers were also known to cause damage to vehicles.

“In many areas, the traditional speed breakers are not constructed by maintaining a certain height, while at some places these are constructed very low. On many occasions, the engine of the vehicles is damaged and they cause accidents,” Mr Das said.

A motorist said in Siliguri the speed-breakers in the town were not constructed scientifically. “Speed breakers are necessary on roads that are prone to accidents, but they should not be life-threatening. Road rumblers are a better alternative as they can stretch for metres together without causing damage to the vehicle, but at the same time they cannot force the vehicles to go slow on the road,” he said.