Police will begin filing video-based cases against speeding vehicles on the Dhaka Elevated Expressway from February 21 to prevent potential accidents, the expressway authorities said yesterday.

Vehicles exceeding 100 kilometres per hour (km/h) will be fined, said Hasib Hasan Khan, head of the Traffic Safety and Security Department at First Dhaka Elevated Expressway O&M Company, which oversees traffic-related issues on the expressway.

The fine for speeding is Tk 2,500 and will double if the offence is committed again.

If a vehicle is fined three times for exceeding the speed limit, it will be banned from the expressway.

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), however, said a case will be filed against any vehicle that exceeds the speed limit on the expressway. Currently, the speed limit on the Dhaka Elevated Expressway is set at 60 km/h.

However, the authorities have proposed increasing it to 80 km/h and are in discussions with the Bangladesh Bridge Authority regarding the change, Hasib said, adding that the issue will hopefully be settled by February 20.

The move to enforce the speed limit comes as many users are treating the expressway like a runway, with some driving at speeds over 190 km/h and many exceeding 150 km/h.

The expressway authorities have recorded an average of over 400 incidents of speeding (above 100 km/h) each month, said another official.

At least 10 major accidents have occurred since the expressway opened, Hasib said.

"Fortunately, none have resulted in fatalities. However, if speeding continues, casualties are inevitable. That's why we told DMP that video-based case filing should begin."

The expressway authority will provide the DMP with a video link to monitor the footage from their office, Hasib said.

Currently, police are filing cases against speeding vehicles on the elevated expressway and Purbachal Expressway using speed guns, Md Sarwar, additional commissioner (traffic) of DMP, told The Daily Star yesterday.

However, speed guns cannot detect the number plates of vehicles that are excessively speeding.

In some cases, the vehicles are out of reach by the time the police check their speed and hence the move towards video-based case filing.

The expressway authorities will set up a video link at the Gulshan Traffic Division office by February 20, he said, adding that case filing is expected to begin the following day.

The DMP is connected to the vehicle database of the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority and will file cases by observing the number plates of speeding vehicles.

The notice of the case will be sent to the address listed in the database of the vehicle owner, he said. If the fine is not paid within the deadline, a warrant will be issued, he added.

Built under a public-private partnership model, the country's first elevated expressway was partially opened to traffic in September 2023.

Last month, an average of 66,000 vehicles used the expressway per day.