TrafficInfraTech Magazine Linking People Places & Progress
Traffic Management by Delhi Traffic Police
Interceptors: The Delhi Traffic Police has 11 Interceptors for speed measurement having capability of working in night time as well. The units consist of camera, speed measuring device with viewing, recording and printing facility. These are very effective in preventing & enforcing the traffic laws, where violator can be shown the over speeding violation committed by him. Such interceptors are mainly used for enforcement of speed limits. These are being utilized on signal free road, long stretches of roads on which there is high potential of over speeding and accident.
E-challan: E-challan system has been introduced as a part of the modernization initiative to equip the prosecuting officers with hand held electronic devices for challaning the traffic offenders. The system is technically approved and all the prosecuting officers have been professionally trained to handle the devices and use them for prosecution, thereby, replacing the manual challan books. The system is capable of storing data of violations and generates various reports as desired. Owing to the capability of the system to easily identify repeat offenders, the Transport Department, GNCT of Delhi has also formulated a policy, as provided in law, for cancellation of driving license, registration certificate and permit of commercial vehicles and drivers who indulge in repeated traffic violations. The data in respect of commercial vehicles that have been indulged in repeated violations is regularly sent to the Transport Department, GNCT of Delhi for enhanced punishment as per the laid down policy.
Alcometer: Drunken driving is one of the major causes of road accidents. Regular surprise checks are carried out by the traffic staff near hotels, pubs, bars and other places, where people consume alcohol and drive vehicles. At present, there are 331 alcometers available with Delhi Traffic Police. With an objective to curb road accidents and enforce traffic discipline on stretches of roads prone to over-speeding and drunken driving, the Delhi Traffic Police undertake special night checking against drunken driving in the NCT.
Sustained and strict action is being undertaken against drunk driving. Special drives are launched at identified locations during vulnerable hours on regular basis. The campaign launched by the Delhi Traffic Police against drunk driving is a continuous process and regular enforcement drives are undertaken vigorously during late night hours to prosecute drunk drivers. Vulnerable locations have also been identified and strict action is being taken by deploying enforcement teams of traffic personnel on sustained basis for prosecuting errant drivers. The matter of awarding stricter jail terms has been pursued with the judicial officers in consequence of which heavy fines are being levied on the violators.
Accident Crash Lab: A more professional and scientific approach towards accident investigation and prevention has been made by setting up a “Accident Crash Lab” to reconstruct the road accidents and study the causative factors leading to these accidents so that suitable remedial measures are taken for prevention and recurrence of accidents at the spot. The software known as “PC Crash” is found to be effective in Indian environment for reconstruction of accidents. The database having details of Indian models of vehicles is being enriched. The system takes into account the skid marks, positioning of vehicles and other technical clues available at the scene of accidents.
Traffic Signals/Blinkers: Installation of traffic signals/blinkers and pedestrian/ pelican signals is a regular process which is generally based on the principle of need based requirements. At present, there are 880 traffic signals, 426 blinkers and 62 pedestrian/pelican signals at important traffic junctions, conflict junctions, accident prone locations and other vulnerable locations in the NCT.
Gantry Mounted devices: The presence of mobile interceptor during the day time has a deterrent effect and impact the behavior of driver to keep him within the designed speed limits. However, at night, there is a lean presence of traffic policemen and deterrence on the roads. The gantry mounted laser based speed detection system is being planned for installation to be able to catch the speed violations during the day and night (with the help of IR lamp or flash facility). These would be deployed judiciously at selected locations on road stretches vulnerable to over-speeding.
Smart City Surveillance Project in Uttar Pradesh
Similarly, Uttar Pradesh government is developing a smart city surveillance system in major 16 cities across the state. There will be a CCTV cameras with in-built Video Management Software (VMS) with analytics installed at all major traffic signals. The system has an ability to analyse the number plates of vehicles for tracking the violators. There will be more number of traffic signals installed with surveillance enforcement cameras.
Apart from the CCTV-based surveillance systems, the traffic department is also proposing to have Traffic Management Centres in the 16 major cities, which will be gradually scaled up to other cities across the State. These centres will do a real-time monitoring of the traffic, also known as Intelligent Traffic Management System. The traffic law violations as well as booking of defaulters will be done in an electronic mode. Automatically, electronic challans will be generated for the road rule violators, and they will have to go to the respective local courts and pay the fine.
“The focus is on ITMS and CCTV Cameras”
Anil Agarwal, Additional Director General of Police (Traffic), Uttar Pradesh, said, “In UP, there is no discipline on roads, so fundamentally we have to start from the basic. The training has to start from our police personnel, and even the citizens should be educated”. The main culprit for road accident is over-speeding, followed by dangerous lane cutting and overtaking. The recent decision to set up CCTV cameras on Noida – Greater Noida Expressway is just a step forward in this direction. This is similar to what have been already installed on the Yamuna Expressway. There has been an increased focus on ITMS and CCTV cameras which form an integral part of this system and of smart cities as well.