| |November 20219monitoring of our roads and enforcement of traffic laws also need to happen parallely so that traffic violators/perpetrators are caught and punished.THE ROAD AHEAD: TECHNOLOGY PAVES THE WAY FORWARDTechnology can surely play an important role in helping the Police monitor and fine traffic violators. Many Police command centres now include CCTV and dash camera footage or feeds to assist the police officers in carrying out their duties. Optical character recognition (OCR) software makes identifying number plates easy and can be used by Police at check posts to identify vehicles that have outstanding fines. Further, India could also introduce a points-based license system, so that people who are repeat offenders would have their driver's license revoked. This measure has proved very effective in European nations, where most commercial drivers cannot afford to have their license revoked as it is their main source of income. Creating technologically innovative ways to prevent road accidents/reduce the deaths has proved very successful -- think how many lives have been saved by the invention of seat belts, airbags and anti-lock braking systems. The next set of advancements on this front will be driven by AI and advanced video cameras like Driver State Monitors (DSM) and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). DSMs are cameras that use advanced AI algorithms to monitor a driver's face and gestures to ensure that the driver is not falling asleep, smoking, using a mobile phone or being distracted from looking at the road ahead. Speed limiters can be fitted to vehicles to ensure that they adhere to the maximum speed limit. On the other hand, ADAS forward collision warning systems alert the driver of an impending collision with a slower moving or stationary car in front of the driver; thus this technology will help warn drivers of unsolicited situations in advance and prevent accidents before they occur. IN CONCLUSIONThe cost of adopting these (above-mentioned) technological advancements or devices is small when compared to the number of lives that can be saved. The faster we can adopt these new advancements, the safer our roads can be. The Government, private companies and the citizens of India need to collaboratively play their part in reducing the needless lives lost on our roads. CREATING TECHNOLOGICALLY INNOVATIVE WAYS TO PREVENT ROAD ACCIDENTS/REDUCE THE DEATHS HAS PROVED VERY SUCCESSFUL -- THINK HOW MANY LIVES HAVE BEEN SAVED BY THE INVENTION OF SEAT BELTS, AIRBAGS AND ANTI-LOCK BRAKING SYSTEMS
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