Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: Drivers be careful! As next time, if you are driving while talking on mobile phones, not wearing seat belts or jumping red lights, then you may be caught on speed cameras.
Delhi Integrated Multi- Modal Transit System (DIMTS) has come up with a new project by installing junction close watch cameras on the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor in South Delhi for managing traffic-related chaos.
As per a press release, DIMTS was in discussion to install speed cameras on the stretch to catch the errant drivers. The notable thing that makes speed camera different from surveillance camera is that they have the capability to detect the speed of vehicles also.
This innovative step by DIMTS will be in addition to the already existing junction surveillance cameras that operate the stretch. Four months ago, DIMTS had conducted a pilot project near the airport and had demonstrated the features of speed camera to Delhi Traffic Police. As expected, it was acknowledged by the Traffic Police as the cameras were effective in spotting over speeding vehicles and generating challans, making the task easier for them to nab the rule-violators.
According to DIMTS spokesperson, “the company is in talks with various agencies for installation of high end speed camera and hopes to begin the work of installation of cameras on the corridor by early 2013.”
He also explained that these surveillance cameras can pan/ tilt/zoom to capture the minutest details, which help in supervising traffic conditions and spotting accidents at BRT stretch.
Talking about the unique features of these high resolution cameras, a DIMTS official said “These cameras store video footage and perform optical character recognition to capture license plate number in digital format and in some cases also separately stores photographs of the driver. These cameras can work effectively even in poor visibility conditions.”
He further added, “If any driver is crossing the speed limit, the camera will capture his image and vehicle‘s number plate with the date, place and time stamp. The number plate will help in extracting the address of errant driver from central database and issue image based challans to them.”
Once the speed cameras are installed the information related to the number plates will transmitted to the DIMTS’s Operation Control Centre (OCC) from where it will be sent to the concerned agencies for further action. The staff at OCC constantly monitors the BRT corridor through these cameras and on spotting violations, sends the footage to the Transport Department. The cameras also provide live update of the ground situation at the corridor. Vehicle breakdowns etc. are immediately noted and prompt action taken.
Currently, DIMTS has 24 high resolution cameras monitoring the BRT corridor.
Not many people know that last year when a blast occurred in front of the Delhi High court, video footage was provided by the DIMTS to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for possible clues. As a breakthrough, these videos have become an important source in solving crimes in and around BRT Corridor.
The United Kingdom, United States, Turkey, Ukraine are using speed cameras for monitoring the traffic on roads and over speeding of vehicles from past few years.
