High Time the Traffic Enforcement in India Became Scientific, Efficient and Result Oriented | IRTE

 

There are a staggering 6.2 billion road traffic violations and an alarming 405 deaths on Indian roads every day, a high percentage of which is due to inefficient and faulty traffic enforcement systems in the country.

The primary role of the traffic enforcement systems should be the reduction of severe and fatal accidents, the secondary being the free flow of traffic.
To achieve that, we need efficient and scientific systems and state-of-the-art traffic enforcement centres in place to ensure there a sense of safety and semblance on Indian roads.

In developed countries, the traffic enforcement agencies are supported by the civic or road authorities to help them in the smooth flow of traffic.

However, in developing countries like India, the onus of traffic enforcement falls on the traffic police without the background or training in the field.

Therefore, it’s crucial to provide them with scientific tools and training to ensure effective traffic enforcement and management.

Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE) is a research-based non-profit organisation that has been working in collaboration with corporates, government, and regulatory bodies towards scientifically improving all domains of traffic management.

Among its various initiatives, IRTE has developed and benchmarked tools and systems for enforcement of traffic, crash investigation and road safety management.

The three significant contributions are:

Set-up the School of Traffic Enforcement:  to support traffic police organisations, police training schools and other organisations dealing with traffic enforcement and traffic management build their expertise and capabilities.

The Interceptor: In 1995, IRTE developed state-of-the-art traffic enforcement technology vehicle called ‘Interceptor.’ An evidence-based traffic law enforcement device, designed to help the traffic police capture road traffic violations including speeding on video, the Interceptor has been hailed as a significant breakthrough.

The CrashLab: IRTE has set-up India’s first mobile collision analysis & research laboratory CrashLab, with a vision to facilitate the investigation of road crashes scientifically. This will help the police and other investigating authorities in determining the actual causes and consequences of these collisions.

There is an urgent need that such initiatives are supported and complemented by more such similar endeavours, coupled with a sense of civic consciousness of the road users and adherence to the traffic rules and regulations.