KOCHI: The Kerala High Court has issued a flurry of directives for ensuring road safety, with a special focus on tech-enabled solutions. At the hearing of a suo motu case on recurring accidents in the state the day before, the HC directed the government to implement electronic monitoring and enforcement of road safety on all state highways and identify high-risk urban roads within six months.
Among its directives were extending the Safe Kerala AI-enabled camera enforcement project to cover all identified black spots and accident-prone stretches on state highways.
It directed the transport commissioner to convene a meeting with all stakeholders, including the Association of Private Bus Owners, Kochi Metro Rail Ltd, regional transport officers and any other competent technical body within 60 days to devise a technologically feasible and safe regulatory schedule for private buses.
“Nearly 1.89 crore vehicles were registered in Keralam by the end of 2025. The state has a vehicle density of approximately 425 vehicles per 1,000 population. Keralam is among the states having very high vehicle density. At the same time, the capacity of road network has not kept pace with the growth in number of vehicles,” the HC said.
The HC pointed out that the Keralam recorded 49,889 accidents, 3,733 deaths and 56,922 injuries in 2025 alone. Overspeeding was reported as one of the leading causes of accidents. “The materials further indicate that persons between ages 18 and 45 accounted for approximately 60.5% of road accident deaths.
These figures are of considerable concern, particularly because loss of life in road accidents disproportionately affects the younger and economically active population. By July 2026, a further 2,319 persons lost their lives and 36,116 persons suffered injuries. Thus, in around 19 months, more than 6,000 persons lost their lives on roads in the state,” the HC said.
On national highway construction, the court said before any newly widened or reconstructed stretch is opened to traffic, an independent inspection shall be conducted by the competent authority.