The MV act has been unchanged since the 80s - There were no infrastructure back then - multi-lane highways were unheard of, toll roads were rare and isolated/elevated/cordoned expressways were a dream. That was a time when scooters ruled the roost and the small 100cc 2-stroke bikes like RX100 and KB100 couldn't do sustained high-speed runs. Bullets were purely police/army stuff back then, and things like Disc brakes, ABS were sci-fi stuff. 50kph did make sense back then.

We are now 3 decades ahead of that time. We have excellent roads throughout most of the country and so-called "expressways" and elevated highways isolated from pedestrians, cyclists, stray dogs and cattle. Even a 100cc bike built today can reach 80km/h. A high-end sedan like a BMW can cruise at 180kph. There is really no sense in speed restriction on multi-lane / national highways.

State highways are still vunerable - ignorant village folk loitering on roads, stray animals etc, and most state highways are not multi-laned. It does make sense to restrict State highways, but a 50kph limit is still ridiculous.

It is a different story inside cities though. The average condition of city roads haven't improved, nor can we expect them to improve. But the respective Municipal Corporation should do a better job of evaluating high-speed corridors and raise the speed limits on such roads, instead of imposing a blanket ban. The IRR/ORR sections at Bangalore for example, could have a max speed limit of 80, while busier sections such as arterial sections could make do with 60.


The only people who are happy with a 'blanket' speed restriction are traffic cops...who happily park their speedgun-equipped SUVs under the shade of a tree and make good pocket money. I am sure all of you must have noticed - they will invariably position their speed traps on empty stretches of smooth, multilane roads where it is perfectly safe to ride at 80+....but they will never set up a speed trap within city limits, where helmet-less posers with souped up Dios buzz up and down crowded streets at 70+

And you think it's logical? Last the act was revised is 1988 when Rx100 could still do 100 Kmph & there weren't much car around, cities were much smaller, population was much lesser & the kind of infrastructure we had was barely sufficient. The imports were still not banned, just that the customs duty were high, if there was sufficient moolah, one could still import CB400 or even a humble CB 125

Pls...that is no excuse because I was around

PS - Let me refresh your memory before the last revision on the law, this country had seen RD350, Fury & BMW F650 which could easily do over 100 Kmph

I am talking of the market en-masse, and not a couple of imports. Any regulatory authority, for that matter, would look at the averages and not the exceptions. Today we can import a Hayabusa-killer Kawasaki ZX14R which exceeds 300kph...and who knows, it may just touch 250kph on a particular straight stretch on the Bangalore-Mumbai expressway. But will that serve as a criteria for revising 2-wheeler speed limits to 300kph?


That said, we both have the same point to make - that the current speed restrictions are ridiculous.

Nope. That conversation was about BETL (elevated road between electronic city and silk board). The speed limit on BETL is 80 kph. I'm not sure about the speed limit on airport road, but i won't be surprised if it is 50.

Oh!! And I thought the law was the same who rode a motorcycle

An ancient splendor doing 60 will take much longer to stop with it's worn out drum brakes than a superbike doing 80 with it's dual floating discs and ABS.
So, IMO there should be no hard speed limit. It makes no logical sense. There should be speed guideline within city limits which should not be punishable in case of exceptionally low traffic (nights/sunday afternoons etc). Multi-lane national highways should be deregulated (vis-a-vis german autobahns). Reason should dictate speed limits... not numbers.

Very true, IMHO, people are saying that 50kmph is legal speed, if we go above that then we are breaking the law, lol, is there anyone on this forum who has not given a gandhi note to a pandu when he/she was pulled over, not even once? c'mon guys we all have in some or the other phase of our life have done that, though thats ILLEGAL. So lets not talk about legality as there are many stupid rules and regulations made in this country by our so called government. Rather, lets talk about safety, a true biker should know at what speed he has full control of his bike. For example, if your in a busy street where there is a possibilty of kids and people running here and there, then no matter how many horses you have between your legs, you should drive responsibly and maintain a good speed and should be ready to brake kind and on the other hand, on national highways, if your able to see an open road till say 800 metres, then ride at a speed where in if needed you can brake the bike within 400-500 metres. Does make sense? Any sarcasm or offence is welcomed as im expecting some.

Exactly. Even 50kph on a road in some residential area with heavy pedestrian traffic is lethal. You can't be all like "I was driving within speed limit, it's not my fault" when you run someone over at 45. General Sensibility > hard rules.

I have actually seen a guy give this excuse when he banged an old lady in my area.

O_O That came out wrong, most definitely. :P

Though I dont agree with the 50 km/hr speed limit which is continuing from ages.. But I agree on many points which favor 50km/hr speed limit.

Back in 1988 or today.. the strength of our head has not improved. At 50 km/hr if you fall there are chances you would survive. But if you fall at 70 km/hr there are less chances of your survival. This scenario is without helmet. With helmet you may be safe in both the cases.

How many road users wore helmet back then!! Hardly any! Remember the ad - MARZI HAI AAPKI AAKHIR SIR HAI APPKA on DD?

Government was doing hell lot of effort to make bike riders wear helmet. But even in today's modern and so much connected world, there is hardly any awareness on wearing helmet. People living in Hyderabad will agree with me on this as there are only 30-40% riders wearing the helmet. Go 20 km left or right from the city limits, there is not more than 10% (even this is too optimistic figure) riders with helmet.

The same is the case with security features of your machine.. Calculate the number of bikes with disc brakes and you would be surprised with the figures. Dont even mention the word ABS in the biking fraternity.. Its hardly used by .0001% of the riders of our country.

So if you were to make a speed limit of yz km/hr for the whole nation .. which one would you choose? Think about it! People who have not come out from cities like Bangalore/New delhi please dont vote!!There is a sea of riders without a helmet in other cities.. and those who have, are plastic labor caps, unlockable abc brand which cant protect your head but would rather break into sharp edged weapon.

The thing that is of big concern for me is - Why are speed limits on cars so relaxed!! Just because the person inside the vehicle wont die if it rams into something at 80 km/hr? But if that something happens to be a small family on a motorcycle following "50 km/hr' speed limit!?
Even for the passengers inside a car is a moving hazard! I remember a recent accident involving Mr. Jaspal Bhatti.. The car was a fully loaded Honda Accord. It rammed a tree on a turn. You would be surprised to know that the driver and the other passenger seated in front survived but Mr. Jaspal died - He was on the rear seat! Not only the impact is usually low on the rear seat but Mr. Jaspal also wears a thick turban!!

That is the impact of driving reckless in a fully loaded car! Why are the rules so relaxed for Cars. I have seen speed limit of 100 km/hr displayed on expressways. That is only for cars!! Not for Motorcycles, Trucks, Buses.. but for Cars!! A nano, omni, 800 would easily take away most of the people with it at 100 km/hr.

By the way, Bangalore BBMP and Traffic cops together, have their state of the art ideas/strategy like a lot of speed breakers and potholes to keep the riders and their ride exultant and under 50 kmph.
Since last month I have seen 4 new speed breakers, in IRR, before the Hyper city Mall and Marthahalli.
The cops think with speedbreakers, the so called “City Racer” speed could be regulated. For instance, in Domlur-Kormangala IRR I have not seen the white police vans with the speed catcher(I don’t know what you call it) after they put those speed breakers and this they do coz we in India don’t respect those lines on the asphalt nor the asphalt itself.
Wishing the govt should make palns for some nice asphalted roads in the outskirt which strecth of 10 kilometers where all the bikers could hang around, do their stunts, proceed their racing trials or practice so that none don't have to try out stuff in city limits and if they still do slap them with heavy fines.

If Adarsh and I start from ITPL (at the same time) to Hebbal . I do speeds like 80-100 and Adrash riding at 50-70kmph would reach Hebbal only after 5 mins or as late as 10 mins. 10 minutes doesn't make a lot of difference but there are 90% chances that i could get myself or someone else killed, that wouldn't be the same with Adarsh he being safe are 100%. (adrash don't be mad at me to have pulled you into the conversation)
While to and fro office we don't need to drag race, we will be just 10 mins late to or fro. late to office or home is better than having "Late" before my name

Lol, couldn't you have fabricated two names & btw i dont know why adrash would be mad because you used my name

& yes, you made a valid point regarding speed breakers. They do serve their purpose in regulating speeds otherwise it would be total chaos in most places! But sometimes BBMP is over enthusiastic and end up building a mountain in the middle of road! & the infamous potholes find a way to creep into the exact place where the speed breaker ends! Damn! I dont know how I dont have a rim bend yet!

Recently some 500cr scam was unearthed at BBMP so we can forget that 10km stretch

There should be 'into' somewhere in there!

Yes, there should be some change in laws WRT roads and road safety. But before that we need better roads to begin with! We all complain about people jumping onto roads and stuff. We defenitely need a law against Jay walking, at least in city limits. We need a law treating all vehicles as equals as long as all these vehicles share the same road or lane. At the same time there should be laws for ensuring safety of the rider/driver, passengers/pillions and pedestrians. For all these we need good infrastructure and public awareness. Good roads are a necessity.

Also rules should be there for riders to wear proper gear, passengers in a car to wear seat belts and all those stuff. How many people here would put on the seat belt when you are a passenger in a car? I know, I do. I'm very concerned about my life. Everyone needs to be made aware about the necessity of putting on safety gear, however puny they may seem to be.

At the same time we all need to respect road laws. I for one has decided to do Max 50 on busy stretches. Today was my trial run trying to keep speeds under 50 and I enjoyed it. Even though I didn't say this to my friend who is a regular pillion he noticed and told me he appreciate my gesture very much and we both were relaxed throughout the ride.

I hope to keep going so and hope to preach safety practices to the ones I know. I too would like someone senior, with a lot of experience, to move a vote or campaign to urge the authorities to make some change in speed limits and safety rules.