The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway’s camera enforcement offers a wider lesson for Mumbai commuters and freight operators: lane discipline is not only a matter of etiquette when vehicles travel at very different speeds.
The reported system sets different limits by lane and monitors sections continuously. Automatic challans can be issued for sudden lane changes, wrong-way driving and parking outside designated areas.
Heavy commercial vehicles are a particular concern because a sudden move from a slower first lane into a faster lane leaves following drivers little reaction time. Clear signs, safe merging space and consistent enforcement are needed together.
Technology can document behaviour, but it cannot fix a road where markings are unclear or a vehicle is forced to change lanes abruptly. The most useful enforcement programme will publish violation patterns and use them to improve design.