[naveen.raju]

Source - The Hindu

Service to be launched on Friday

The city police are embracing technology to connect with the public and curb traffic violations in the city.

The police are reaching out to the public and enlisting their help to detect traffic rule violators. People can take pictures or videos of traffic violations in the city limits and send them to the city police through mobile phone messaging application WhatsApp. The new service will be launched on Friday.

The public could send photos or videos of the incidents happening within the Kochi city police limits and send it through WhatsApp to 7559899100. They should also include the place and time of occurrence.

The city police said the information would be conveyed straight to the police control room. The control room would then direct the concerned police officers through the wireless. “We are looking forward to good participation from the public. We will take action immediately as soon as we receive the information,” said city commissioner of police K.G. James.

The identity of the person informing the police about the incident would also be kept confidential while taking action against the offenders. “The informant would not be involved in a police case or any legal action that might arise at a later stage,” said deputy commissioner of police R. Nishanthini in a press release.

The police said the service would be limited to traffic violations in the beginning. People could also report traffic jams, violation of one-way or accidents.

As most mobile phones have cameras, the police hope that the power of a vigilant public could help them bring down the rate of accidents.

[Anoop_SG]

This is a very good initiative by the police department - glad to see that the Kerala police is embracing technology, thus making life easier of common man. One of the most recent introduction being the ability to pay fine for overspeeding, online. Most of the IT guys find this very useful.

Coming on to the new facility, there have been numerous instances when I hoped to have some kind of forum to send videos / pictures of traffic violations. Seems this will be the answer - only concern being that 90% of the cases will involve a certain government department a.k.a KSRTC.

[nishantdlv]

This really seems like a good thought! Nowadays, most of us use Whatsapp as a medium for communicating, maybe even more than calling actually; thanks to the low cost Android phones in the market. This move would help connect the 'Common people' directly the 'System', as the medium being used is absolutely easy and familiar to the masses!

I think there is a sort of "I'm not sure if I should call the Police Helpline" feeling in some people, which would be reduced I reckon by changing the medium.
But definitely, for making this initiative work, to the core, the people should become more vigilant and the police should take quick action!

It is like a cycle. The police takes quick action, thus making the people believe in the system. This will in-turn encourage people and make more people alert and vigilant!

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by joethomasv

Very good initiative. But the number don't seem to be active on whatsapp.

The OP says:

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

Service to be launched on Friday

Originally Posted by Anoop_SG

only concern being that 90% of the cases will involve a certain government department a.k.a KSRTC.

You sure about that? Two-wheelers, autos and private buses will vie for the numero uno spot.

[Anoop_SG]

Originally Posted by silversteed

The OP says:

You sure about that? Two-wheelers, autos and private buses will vie for the numero uno spot.

Two wheelers and autos are also there - but my main concern is still the KSRTC buses due to the following :
- their wayward and sometimes complete lack of positional sense - they stop in the middle of the road, they turn left or right any moment without noise, they always brake at the last moment and remain as close to the bumper as possible etc
- the damage it can cause in case of an accident.
- the complete lack of taking up responsibility and compensation in the event of an accident.

The other 2 that you mentioned are contenders for sure - but none so dangerous as the state run buses, IMHO.

[ghodlur]

Although a good initiative I am wary about the fact that the Police Whatsapp group will be flooded with lots of messages, pics, videos with some of them being fake or wrong. How is the kerala police going to tackle this before it becomes a nuisance? It will be worth seeing what actions will be initiated by the Police team after they receive the messages.

[nishantdlv]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Although a good initiative I am wary about the fact that the Police Whatsapp group will be flooded with lots of messages, pics, videos with some of them being fake or wrong. How is the kerala police going to tackle this before it becomes a nuisance?

I don't think it is a group ghodlur, its just a PM to the number. But anyways, it still wont stop the fakes. Unless they sit and start blocking the numbers from which they received the spams!
Anyways, a survey had concluded that more than half of the calls made to the police control room of Mumbai are pranks or fakes! So, its the same story after all.

Originally Posted by ghodlur

It will be worth seeing what actions will be initiated by the Police team after they receive the messages.

I second that!

[joethomasv]

The number is active now.

[KPS]

I do hope that people while driving/riding, in their over enthusiasm remain vigilant, do not use the mobile to take pictures. We have a tendency to overdo things. If you are driving/riding, then taking pictures would be a violation akin to use of mobile while driving/riding.

Hence I do hope that the Police also mounts a campaign that safety is important and that, when taking photos one must not compromise the safety of the other users of the road.

It is interesting to see how good this initiative would be. The Bangalore police FB page is quite active and police do take action against violators.

Cheers

KPS

[xjosephjacob]

This sure is a good Initiative from Kerala Police and I wish them success in this new venture. I’ve mixed feelings about this as the chances for false alarms are high; and how much percentage of the actual violations are converted to legal offences remains to be seen. Or could this just be a publicity stunt before the elections?

I'm wondering why the government doesn’t show the same interest in investing on road infrastructure and public transport. A plethora of traffic violations are there, however these can be attributed to:

1. Severely underdeveloped road infrastructure - I'm not saying poor quality road; roads are good and the road density is India’s best- it's width that they lack.

2. Poor public transport system - Because of which a shift to individual motorized transport happened, adding to the traffic congestion, road-rage, right-of-way & reducing the average speed, and thereby putting unnecessary pressure on traffic-cum-safety-systems)

This is a state where the traffic densities in state highways and national highways have surpassed the capacity roughly 10 years back. While the roads haven't changed much in those 10 years, traffic increased at 11-12%. Wake up Kerala Govt.

Originally Posted by Anoop_SG

Two wheelers and autos are also there - but my main concern is still the KSRTC buses due to the following :
- their wayward and sometimes complete lack of positional sense - they stop in the middle of the road, they turn left or right any moment without noise, they always brake at the last moment and remain as close to the bumper as possible etc
- the damage it can cause in case of an accident.
- the complete lack of taking up responsibility and compensation in the event of an accident.

The other 2 that you mentioned are contenders for sure - but none so dangerous as the state run buses, IMHO.

I'd say nothing beats the Private Buses plying in Kochi City limits, and the private buses running in Thrissur-Calicut route, when it comes to ‘rudeness’ factor. They run at dangerously high speeds in those ridiculously narrow roads in Kerala and they just don't give a damn about the others. I for one respect the KSRTC buses when I compare them with the Private counterparts. Like Tata advertised for Sierra, when Kerala Private Buses change lanes, it's usually to define a new one.

[nda992]

A great step taken by the Kerala Police!
I am sure their will be more positive complaints than fake ones. The public is more responsible than we think..
I would like to see it coming in Pune soon. Is the Pune traffic police listening??

[noopster]

Originally Posted by nda992

A great step taken by the Kerala Police!
I am sure their will be more positive complaints than fake ones. The public is more responsible than we think..

I agree. The thing about technology is in its application and this for one works- the beauty of it is people may hesitate to post pics on Facebook or Twitter because of how public it is but Whatsapp between 2 parties is virtually private. I do hope the Kerala police take adequate steps to protect the identity of the ones posting the pics.

I would like to see it coming in Pune soon. Is the Pune traffic police listening??

. I can imagine sitting in my parked car taking pictures of people riding/driving on the wrong side and rapidly sending them along to the cops.

[zenren]

Originally Posted by Anoop_SG

Two wheelers and autos are also there - but my main concern is still the KSRTC buses due to the following :

You've probably no idea what you're missing in south Kerala.

The worst drivers in Kerala are no doubt the private buses that operate inter-district routes in the northern and central Kerala. There are a lot of routes that are equally bad; so it is difficult to pick a winner. You can imagine how rash they are by the simple fact that their average speed on our 2-lane roads have always been above 40 km/hr even after stopping at various stops on the way.

KSRTC buses in northern Kerala are mostly driven in a sensible fashion, probably because of the bullying from the private buses.

There are enough samples in youtube that show their driving 'skill'

[voyageur]

Originally Posted by zenren

You've probably no idea what you're missing in south Kerala.

The worst drivers in Kerala are no doubt the private buses that operate inter-district routes in the northern and central Kerala. There are a lot of routes that are equally bad; so it is difficult to pick a winner. You can imagine how rash they are by the simple fact that their average speed on our 2-lane roads have always been above 40 km/hr even after stopping at various stops on the way.

KSRTC buses in northern Kerala are mostly driven in a sensible fashion, probably because of the bullying from the private buses.

There are enough samples in Youtube that show their driving 'skill'

I agree that private buses (especially volvo's) have the worst of drivers, but please don't underestimate the KSRTC. I am unsure about the current scenario but till a year back Kerala State Road Transport buses used to be in the opposite lane and would come back to their lane only if there is another vehicle coming. After the vehicle passes by, they would again get back to the opposite lane.

If you take the history of accidents, I am sure KSRTC bus crashes would be the highest. By this I just mean that both have their own share.


I have seen the video of a private bus in kerala driven on 2 wheels. I am guessing it's north kerala (Trissur - Palakkad route). For anyone who has not seen it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEN-omUhNPk

Cheers

[nishantdlv]

Keralites! Did anyone use this service? Was it of any help to locals out there?