HYDERABAD: Cyberabad Traffic Police have registered around 500 lane-change violations on the Biodiversity Flyover since it reopened four days ago. This is the first time the police are tracking lane-change violations in the city.
The flyover was shut after three persons were killed in two accidents on the flyover in November 2019. After implementing the safety measures recommended by an expert panel, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) reopened the flyover on January 4.
According to the rule, two-wheelers are to keep to the left-most lane, while four-wheelers should drive on the two right lanes. The traffic police are penalising two-wheelers and four-wheelers who are entering into each other’s lanes. The new initiative has won appreciation from all quarters as it helps to make sense of the traffic and channelise it in designated lanes.
"We are ensuring that all traffic rules are followed perfectly. An automatic number plate-recognition technology records a picture of the number plate of any vehicle that enters a lane that it is not supposed to be in. A challan too is automatically generated," said Vijay Kumar, DCP, Cyberabad Traffic.
Experts, while stating that lane discipline is the solution for traffic slow-down and to prevent accidents, note that it should be enforced only on flyovers and on outer ring roads. “Lane discipline is a good solution to traffic issues and appropriate only on controlled road geometry. The city’s roads are not suitable for enforcing lane discipline,” opined Professor KM Lakshmana Rao, JNTU Professor and expert on transport.
Lakshmana Rao has recommended in his study to enforce an artificial intelligence system to detect lane violations in a redeveloped road network. Something similar is being done at Biodiversity flyover, where a start-up is aiding with an AI-backed software to detect and penalise lane-change violations.
He further explained that police could do this on all flyovers, provided they are thoroughly checked by expert committees and affixed with all safety features, including glare control mechanism, which will make lane discipline easy to follow.