The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras launched a hackathon to develop a system to improve road safety and a prototype licencing regime for those seeking to apply for driving licences. The hackathon was launched during the National Scientific Road Safety Conclave.
The event witnessed lagging off a ‘Train the Trainer’ programme for school bus drivers with a planned outcome where young people at an impressionable age learn about road safety and carry forward the message.
Another key outcome of the event includes sharing of the experience of the Tamil Nadu Special Task Force on the scientific enforcement approach to road safety jointly being undertaken by IIT Madras and the Tamil Nadu Government.
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Addressing the inaugural session, V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, said, “Road safety is getting collaborative with technology. However, each road, each region, and the city has its own DNA. Creating such a scenario in a simulator is the biggest challenge. Training drivers is the most important thing in road safety and school bus drivers are a good start. Children see them driving the most and are impacted by it.”
Vinit Wankhede, Additional Director General of Police and Chairperson, Special Task Force on Road Safety (STF–RS), Tamil Nadu, said, “Road engineering has to come back and perform its central role in road safety i.e we need IRC standards compliant safe roads. Enforcement has to move beyond statistics and become scientific in order to meaningful impact on violations whose dimensions are currently overwhelming. Technology has to be implemented in a manner that yields results on the ground. IIT and Tamil Nadu police are laying the groundwork for Scientific Enforcement. Hopefully, it will start yielding results in near future.”
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The key outcomes from the event also included the launch of a new driver licencing process called ‘3 Gate Licencing’ (3GL) that provides an objective way of measuring driver behaviour, their knowledge of road safety and driving etiquette to practice the learnt theory in a simulator and on-road driving conditions before getting a valid driving licence.
Sharing his thoughts while flagging off the ‘Train the Trainer’ program, Shankar Jiwal, Commissioner of Police, Chennai, said, “We tend to project fatalities. We must also look at injuries that lead to permanent maiming. Enforcement, while important in Road Safety loses value after a point. It only works when there is a deterrent. A potential road user’s history must be vetted before issuing a driving licence.”
Highlighting the importance of such events, Venkatesh Balasubramanian, Head, CoERS and Professor, RBG Labs, Department of Engineering Design, IIT Madras, said, “Driving is not a right but a privilege. The proposed 3 Gate Licencing (3GL) system includes testing for driver knowledge and physiological fitness to drive in the 1st Gate, simulator-based evaluation in the 2nd Gate, and on-road evaluation as 3rd Gate. This will ensure that first-time learner is thoroughly educated on knowledge and skills in a safe, simulated environment. Comprehensive skill building is essential for a person to be qualified to have the privilege of a driver.”
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