For the first time, the state transport department is all set to limit maximum speed of vehicles plying across the state to prevent an increase in the number of deaths caused by road accidents.

The civil engineering department of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur, along with Paribahan Bhawan, transport department headquarters on R N Mukherjee Road, will launch a study document on policy interventions and roadmap for effective implementations of speed management in the city and districts in a programme scheduled on Tuesday.

Transport minister Snehashis Chakraborty and civil engineering experts of the IIT will be there in the programme. After a thorough study of more than two years since 2022, the IIT has prepared the roadmap making recommendations on maximum speed limits of vehicles plying on different National Highways (NHs), state highways (SHs), and other roads under local administrations in the state.

“The state transport department has accepted our document and roadmap on how to prevent road accidents and deaths in our state. The purpose of this move is to communicate the idea of prevention and control speed so that the number of accidents comes down,’’ Prof Bhargab Moitra and transport specialist who led the study, told The Statesman. “Common people will get benefits once recommendations made by us are implemented by the state government,” Prof Moitra added.

The document revealed that speeding vehicles are the single largest cause of road accidents in the state, which records 6,000 deaths every year on an average. The state also ranks 11 in terms of deaths caused by fatal road accidents in the country that comes in the top in the world considering the highest number of 450 deaths daily.

It also threw light on how speed and accident fatality are scientifically inter-related. For instance, maximum speed for a motor vehicle should not cross 30 kmph in roads close to markets, schools, hospitals etc, according to the document prepared by the IIT.

Speed limits in roads where pedestrians are not protected properly should also be restricted strongly by lawenforcing authorities. There should be highend electronic-based evidence systems to monitor speed limits so that police can take proper action against speeding vehicles, the document recommends. Police personnel should be more responsible to take strong actions against speeding vehicles after verifying electronic-based evidence.