ORR illumination LE(a)Ds to safer rides

​Hyderabad: Rear-end collisions have come down considerably on the busy Gachibowli- Shamshabad stretch of Outer Ring Road (ORR) after it was illuminated with LED lights ensuring safe travel for motorists. Vehicles moving at high speeds are found to hit the rear of the slow-moving vehicles, especially load carrying trucks and lorries, leading to fatal accidents for the last few years.

With LED lighting move paying dividends, Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) is taking up illumination of the remaining 135 km of ORR. Tender process for this Rs 125 crore project is on and the metropolitan body has set a target to start works at the earliest. It may be noted that uniform light beams across an entire highway surface provide motorists with the clearest picture of highway conditions with no dark spots or dimly-lit areas preventing accidents.

On the Gachibowli- Shamshabad stretch, HMDA installed lights (210 watts) on main carriageway, service roads (90 watts), up and down ramps (90 watts and 210 watts), junction lighting (1000 watts metal-halide bulbs) by June 2017.

On main carriageway, 40 poles were installed in on a kilometre stretch in the middle of the road with twin brackets carrying two 210 watts bulbs each, one facing the road left side and the other to the right side to cover the entire 8-lane stretch of ORR.

This LED lighting is state-of-the-art technology with GSM based automation system, web-based management, progamming and reporting system making job easier for maintenance. The status of lighting can be controlled and monitored through web from anywhere. Also, another specialty is the lighting system will have the option to dim lights by 50 per cent, during low traffic time. 

Due to power saving LED lights, the metropolitan body is incurring monthly power bill of Rs 1 lakh per kilometre. Although night lighting would improve safety quotient, experts felt skills and driving habits of the person on the wheel are the key.

Driving on ring roads and highways is a different cup of tea than driving within city limits, where one tends to go at normal speeds most of the time. Prof GVK Reddy, HoD (Civil) from Vardhaman Engineering College, who teaches traffic engineering, said 31 per cent of accidents was due to rear-end collisions.

 Improper and sudden change of lane by motorists’ results in rear-ends collisions and hence lane discipline is the key for safe driving, he stressed. HMDA commissioner T Chiranjeevulu said that LED lighting on entire ORR was a priority work for the metropolitan body. “We are in the process of finalising the tender. Lights will be installed on main carriageway on the remaining 135 km stretch,” he said.