The Bidhannagar Commissionerate wants to curb the speed of the motorised rickshaws that carry passengers across the township. The speed limit that has been imposed is 25km per hour.
The announcement was made by deputy commissioner (traffic) Nima Norbu Bhutia at a meeting to create awareness called by the Bidhannagar Traffic Guard at Labony bus stand on Monday afternoon. With him on stage were Bidhannagar traffic inspector Siddhartha Mukherjee and ex-councillor Nirmal Dutta, who heads the union of 80 rickshaw stands across Salt Lake. There are 94 stands across the five sectors and the other 14 stands are headed by civic body chairman Sabyasachi Dutta.
The police is talking tough in the aftermath of a fatality caused by reckless driving. On May 1, Sikha Dutta, an elderly lady, walking her dog after dinner, was knocked over by a speeding e-rickshaw, as they are called, at her own doorstep in BL Block around 9.30pm. She suffered multiple fractures and succumbed in hospital on Wednesday.
A security guard, who witnessed the accident, confirmed that the culprit was an e-rickshaw. The police recovered footage from two private closed-circuit cameras. “But identification of the vehicle was not possible due to insufficient lighting and high speed,” a police officer said. A case was filed but no arrests have been made.
At the meeting, the deputy commissioner impressed upon the rickshaw drivers the need to keep within the stipulated speed limit, which comes into effect from June 1. According to police sources, the e-rickshaws, powered by rechargeable batteries, are able to reach speeds upwards of 40km per hour. “The emergency brakes are unable to stop the vehicles at the point of application. This results in the rickshaws straying another five to seven feet before they stop, often failing to avert the collision. Other than speeding, the e-rickshaws are prone to driving in the opposite direction in one-way lanes, making abrupt U-turns, ignoring traffic signals and carrying extra passengers,” a traffic police officer said.
This is not the first accident caused by e-rickshaws. While small accidents are rampant, police sources recall a rickshaw-puller dying in 2023. “He was coming from a wrong direction and crashed headlong with a car that was driving out of a lane. The glass windshield of the e-rickshaw crashed and made a deep gash in his neck, killing him. His wife was on board,” the officer said.
Beyond rule of law
As the e-vehicles are not covered under the Motor Vehicles Act, the police cannot directly prosecute speeding drivers. Driving licences are not issued in their names nor can licence plates be given. “There are close to 2,500 e-rickshaw drivers in Salt Lake. We have handed them photo identity cards. They are supposed to display them prominently at the back of the vehicles as well as carry them on their person. A passenger can ask to see it,” the officer added.
In case of speeding, the police plan to detain the vehicle for the day so that there is a loss of business. “This is the only deterrent in the absence of a monetary fine,” he said.
The union leaders have also promised to cooperate with the administration. “If the police report against a driver, we will stop him from standing in the queue for passengers at the stand for three to seven days, depending on the gravity of the offence,” promised the former Duttabad councillor, who said he used to pull a rickshaw in the past.
The drivers claimed it was often the passengers who goaded them to drive faster but promised to curb their speed. It would also be explored if the manufacturers could reduce the top speed of the e-rickshaws, Nirmal Datta said.
