Dhaka Elevated Expressway: Overspeeding continues despite raising speed limit to 80 kmph

Overspeeding on the Dhaka Elevated Expressway (DEE) is yet to come under control despite cases filed over speed limit violations. In a recent move the speed limit has been raised to 80 kilometres per hour on the city's first expressway.

The First Dhaka Elevated Expressway Company Limited earlier had found vehicles hitting speed of 120-130 km per hour and highest 198 kmph before the company and Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) jointly launched a drive against the speed violators.

Sources said a good number of vehicles, mostly private cars, drove at speed beyond 100 kmph on the over 11 km expressway.

DMP DC (Traffic) for Gulshan Mohammad Mohidul Islam said a total of 604 cases were filed against the drivers who drove at speed over 80 kmph during the last eight days of February 2025. They were fined Tk 2,000 and above each.

He, however, said they used to fine vehicles even before raising the allowable speed limit to 80 kmph from 60 kmph on Thursday. They intensified the driver increasing the team in the DEE on February 20.

He claimed that the number of speed limit violations came down to 70, on average, during the last eight days.

First Dhaka Elevated Expressway Operation and Maintenance (FDEEO&M) Company Limited claimed earlier that about 400 vehicles used to run at speed of around 100 kmph on the expressway before launch of the drive.

According to the DMP, since the drive launched, 82 vehicles were fined on February 20, followed by 84 on February 21, 62 on February 22, 72 on February 23, 73 on February 24, 55 on February 25, 78 on February 26, 55 on February 27 and 43 on February 28.

The numbers of vehicles fined were lower on the weekly holidays because of a less number of DEE users.

According to the FDEE Company, on average, 60,000 vehicles use the expressway daily. The number during the weekend goes down to the range of 45,000 to 50,000.

The DC Traffic said they fined the drivers using POS machines and so they could identify the drivers who violated the speed limit more than once and increase the fine amount.

The DEE operation and maintenance company earlier announced to ban the vehicles violating the speed limit thrice on the DEE.

Hasib Hasan Khan, head of DEE operation and maintenance company, said after launch of the drive, speed limit violations came down but it happened as drivers slowed down sensing presence of the invigilation team on the DEE.

However, an official of the Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA) said the DEE was designed with the highest speed limit of 80 kmph in the context of the country. Though vehicles on expressways around the world run at speed over 100 to 150 kmph, the country's context is different due to lack of skilled drivers and full fitness of vehicles.

A good number of incidents including tyre bursts and serious accidents like overturning of vehicles have been recorded since the part of the DEE from Airport to Tejgaon was opened to vehicles on September 2, 2023.

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