Now, eye in sky to curb e-way rash driving, accidents

| | New Delhi
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Now, eye in sky to curb e-way rash driving, accidents

Monday, 19 August 2019 | Deepak Kumar Jha | New Delhi

Now, eye in sky to curb e-way rash driving, accidents

Drones may soon be deployed to keep an eye on the menace of rash driving, lane change, over speeding and other traffic violations, particularly on the expressways, to minimise accidents.

The auto-pilot drones loaded with a geographic positioning system (GPS) and a powerful camera can provide real-time pictures for better surveillance. The Road Transport Ministry may use this technology first on Delhi-Meerut Expressway and Delhi Vadodara Expressway on a prototype basis.

If the experiment is successful, drones will be deployed for traffic supervision on other important national highways to enforce road discipline. 

A senior road transport official said while the use of CCTVs has somewhat controlled rash driving and helped in identification of the offenders, haphazard lane changing, especially by heavy vehicles and high speed cars and motorbikes, has emerged a major menace on expressways or new NHs.

As per an internal study of the Road Transport Ministry, it has been found that people who obey lane driving end up becoming a victim when others speeding vehicles change lane swiftly.

Drones will keep a watch on them and pass on the message to the nearest control office which in turn will be referred to the enforcement unit for necessary action, said a Ministry official.

The official said currently Hyderabad is using drones to man the traffic and they have been programmed to spot accident sites besides traffic congestions. Drones are also being used by various departments, including The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and Railways to monitor the progress of projects including the Bullet Train Project.

The official explained that this low flying object will be able to take images and videos of drivers violating road discipline which includes seat belts, use of mobile phones etc. “As compared with manpower police patrols, drones can cover larger sections in less time and provide real-time feedback more quickly,” said the official.

“Drones have been widely used for traffic surveillance and crime investigation by police departments of various states in India. Besides, it can also be very effective in the post-incident analysis,” said a law and order expert. Police believe that drones could play a major role in monitoring traffic movements, accident-prone areas and major traffic junctions.

In an effort to enforce road and traffic discipline across the country to curb accidents, Nitin Gadkari-led Road Transport Ministry last month made changes in the Motor Vehicle Act and Parliament approved it. Following which road offenders now face heavy penalties and even jail term.

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