[negativeH]

Yep, they take videos and then screen shot them for images.

Cops used to do this outside our campus some years ago - click/record people smoking, then discuss terms.

[IamNikhil]

This is very common in Mumbai. Traffic cops and even marshals are always standing in obscure corners just waiting to capture on their phones.

[DetectiveMiles]

It is not just police, but any citizen can also report limited number of violations using PublicEye app in Bengaluru. I have reported several footpath riders, two wheel riders using mobile phones and such. You can check the status of your report in the same app.
I have noticed several vehicles in signals when light is red, just reverese to keep themselves within solid white line before padestrian crossing seeing the police!
On the other hand, I have received one violation myself when my car was parked under No Parking sign (1000 rupees) and paid it via PayTM

[DrCar]

I have been a victim of the dark side of this technology.

Few months back, a Duster ahead followed by an Amaze and my car were crossing a green signal.
Suddenly, a reckless scooterist decided to jump his signal. We all braked to save him. He disappeared. Duster and Amaze crossed the signal while it turned orange and I got stuck in the red signal ahead of the zebra crossing line.

A police jeep was behind me. The constable inside took pictures of my car. I realised that I was fined when I received message after reaching home. Though I paid the fine, I am still wondering how would a person be able to tell his side of the story in case he isn't guilty. Previously atleast we had a human to interact with in case of errors.

Authorities are conveniently fining honest drivers by the use of this technology and conveniently ignoring wrong side drivers, footpath riders and helmetless motorcyclists.

[GautamJ]

Originally Posted by DrCar

I have been a victim of the dark side of this technology.

+1

One of my car got a challan for parking in ‘No Parking’ zone but, the evidence pictures had no such proofs. Also, the car was parked in ‘MCGM Pay and Park’ spot. Upon filing for redressal, the same was denied stating the pictures/challan has been clicked/raised by the Traffic Police on the field and they cannot reverse the said challan .

Not doubting the skills of the Maharashtra Traffic Police but, I do hope the genuine cases are reversed, though it has never been the case .

[GoProHero]

Originally Posted by svsantosh

Whichever photo is clear, is uploaded to the website and that number plate gets a challan with a clear pic as proof

Moral of the story, floor it if you see a cop with a smartphone. I am sure traffic police smartphone cameras aren't the best to capture motion clearly

[Small Bot]

Earlier this year, I was at the Olympia Tech Park signal in Chennai, and moved forward a bit to allow a biker behind me to escape being locked between two cars.

It just so happened that I crossed the Stop line by a couple of feet doing so. Before I could roll back, I got nicely captured on mobile camera by a conveniently placed traffic cop.

The following was the result:



After this, I've been religiously stopping at Stop lines, irrespective of the time of day.

[shresan23]

Originally Posted by Small Bot

Earlier this year, I was at the Olympia Tech Park signal in Chennai, and moved forward a bit to allow a biker behind me to escape being locked between two cars.

I was wondering why there was no one from Chennai here. The scene in Chennai, as far as i can fathom is a bit more calm. You can see stuff like these happening only in such places. Generally the tech park, mount road, etc. Otherwise, the cops either dont care enough or just pull the perpetrator to the side and issue a challan. But when they do take pictures, they take it properly. Like someone else had mentioned, yes, even here they take a video and use the frame which has the number plate clearly

Also, other bhpians from Chennai do tell me, do the speed cameras work? I have been cruising happily at 50 or 60 multiple times on Radhakrishnan Salai and even in Mount Road once or twice and no challan has been issued (touchwood..?)

[alphamike_1612]

Originally Posted by GTO

No tow truck is a win-win.

While the revenue collection aspect is fulfilled, the underlying issue (especially with regards to No parking areas) that the vehicle there is blocking traffic/is a hindrance doesn't get addressed in this case, until a tow truck arrives and removes the offending vehicle.

Originally Posted by shresan23

Also, other bhpians from Chennai do tell me, do the speed cameras work? I have been cruising happily at 50 or 60 multiple times on Radhakrishnan Salai and even in Mount Road once or twice and no challan has been issued (touchwood..?)

The all rounder cameras (they aren't just speed cams and are can identify several violations including stop line violations and number plate violations) inside the city are supposed to be under review (ie. asses average speed and traffic situation, except Annanagar which has been functioning since early 2019) and will not levy fines. However, a month or so back, there was a statement from the commissioner's office saying speed limits were 40 in the day and 50 at night. I don't know if the same has been fed to these. However, if it's your bad luck, (like it was once mine) an officer viewing recorded footage from a regular CCTV camera might issue fines.

Speed cams in ECR do work. However they are the "classic" speed cams with the flash, so you will know that by the time you get home, a challan would be waiting.
Also they flash/generate challans only if you're doing an obscene speed (like 100kmph or more, speed limit on the ECR is 60kmph)

[RedHerring]

Originally Posted by shresan23

I was wondering why there was no one from Chennai here. The scene in Chennai, as far as i can fathom is a bit more calm. You can see stuff like these happening only in such places.

Recently, I was in an auto on a narrow road dead end (Marshall road, Egmore), waiting at a signal to turn right. There was a car guy wanting to take the free left but was blocked by this auto. So he honked a few times but the auto didn't budge. I asked him why he didn't make way for the car behind and his answer was "this guy will happily go away but I only will have to pay the fine for crossing the line".
I did a secret dance in my mind on hearing that. If this can change the auto drivers ways, then there is still some hope left !

[Neomobile]

This has been happening in Pune for quite a few years. Now my dashcam is a counter to spurious cases (if such evidence holds).

[Secretariat]

I am not at all sure that this is a good move. Earlier, the sight of a cop who stopped offenders and challaned them was a deterrent. Now nobody cares. Even if a photo is taken and a challan issued, very few pay. The reckoning might come only years away when the vehicle is sold and that's simply not in the time frame of consideration.

There is an explosion of blatant red light jumping and driving on the wrong side in Bangalore after the cops stopped jumping in front of offenders. They can try a photo, but it will more likely have the offender grinning and waving for a pose while merrily continuing to break every rule in the book.

The current fad for watching a video or doing a video call while driving is scaring the hell out of me. In slow moving traffic, video watching is now increasing and I have been rear ended a couple of times by video watchers who couldn't take their eyes off the screen.

I am amazed at some posts here regarding challans for crossing the stop line. WHAT ? In which country is that happening ? Forget a stop sign; I am happy if traffic can stop anywhere, at least for some time, for a red light. The fear of breaking a rule was small in the first place. Now with no cop physically catching you, it is a free for all.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by Secretariat

I am not at all sure that this is a good move. Earlier, the sight of a cop who stopped offenders and challaned them was a deterrent. Now nobody cares. Even if a photo is taken and a challan issued, very few pay. The reckoning might come only years away when the vehicle is sold and that's simply not in the time frame of consideration.

Not really. Vehicles are getting blacklisted on Vaahaan/govt sites if they have unpaid tickets/challans; there are queries on the forum on how to get around such a situation as many services are unavailable (eg getting HSRP number plates).

Ticket amounts have gone up so it's no longer a small expense. With the amount of ongoing digitization of government capabilities, checking of unpaid tickets is only going to get more and more streamlined to get the vehicle owner to comply as earlier as possible. And not only when the vehicle goes for sale.

I am amazed at some posts here regarding challans for crossing the stop line. WHAT ? In which country is that happening ?

Search for it on the forum - there are posts of bhpians getting challans for this more than a year ago.

[mreccentric]

Firstly, I don't know what accounts to an offense. I see lot of two wheeler vehicles riding without helmet, and some of them still wearing a non-standard/non-ISI helmets in the main localities of the city. The police should first follow a standard so that we can be sure on knowing what is an offense according to the rule book and what it is according to the vigilante on road.

While, police seldom catch these in the outskirts of Bangalore, i have even seen people getting challans for it even there. Like you see lot of people going to buy groceries and such stuffs around the local area and still not getting caught, but while there are instances where they are caught too.

But, mobile phones captures and fixed cameras have made it easy for the police to get more numbers, and hence their revenue and also enforcing the rules to general public.

[SilentEngine]

Received a message about a challan today. Was curious since i didn't venture out anywhere that warrants a challan. Turns out, it was issued by Goa Traffic Police earlier today, while the car is here in Bangalore!

Most likely the cop made a mistake in entering registration number. The driver name and DL information in challan is different (DL is KA issued, so it's someone driving a KA registered car in Goa). There's a photo of the car (low res image, can't see the number) which looks like a maroon i20, while my car is a blue EcoSport. Amount of Rs 500 was already paid according to the portal.

Was wondering what i would have had to do to dispute this if the amount was unpaid.