NOIDA: Tyre killers were installed on a road between sectors 74 and 77 on Monday evening in an attempt to stop wrong-side driving. The spikes were spread in a line on the 11-metre-wide road where traffic is in a mess daily because of wrong-side and haphazard driving.Rajeev Tyagi, general manager at the Noida Authority, said the decision followed repeated complaints by residents about wrong-side driving. People use the stretch to visit the shopping complex at Prateek Visteria in Sector 77 and neighbouring residential apartments. The Authority and traffic police believe the tyre killers would act as a deterrent for errant drivers since the 74,000 challans issued last year for wrong-side driving have failed to instill discipline. Tyre killers are metal stripes with sharp spikes, having an 80mm distance between them. The spikes are installed on a spring and act as a speed breaker for vehicles being driven on the right side. But the same spikes puncture the tyres of a vehicle coming from the wrong side S. Velmurugan , senior principal scientist at CRRI, had a word of caution for the administration.“These (tyre killers) could prove to be hazardous for bikers, cyclists and auto-rickshaws. A biker may lose balance if the spikes puncture the tyres suddenly. In cars, the occupants might be safe. Pune had rolled out a similar project, but it was not successful,” he said.Some residents, however, welcomed the move. Amit Kumar Bimal, a resident of Eldeco Aamantran, said tyre killers would discourage wrong-side driving.“There is a need to discipline traffic violators. The Noida Authority and police will now be able to manage traffic well. Such tyre-killers should be installed everywhere, especially near U-turns that witness wrong-side driving,” he said. The Noida Authority has installed lights on the stretch so that the spikes are visible from a distance and placed banners to create awareness. A team has also been deployed to inform commuters against driving on the wrong side.The Authority plans to install tyre killers in eight others locations — sectors 32/33, 60, 50/51, 15-A, (gate 1), 15-A (gate 2), 82, 22, 67 and 6.

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