Traffic Cops in Gurgaon to go Hi-Tech With Project 3rd Eye

Project 3rd Eye, India’s first traffic violation tracking system will be coming to Gurgaon first, followed by other cities depending on the success of the project. Traffic cops will now carry a GPS-enabled mobile phone fitted with a special software called Tselina, so whenever there is a traffic violation, the cop has to simply snap a photo which is then automatically uploaded on a server along with the offender's licence plate and co-ordinates of the location. Now, this would work well for parking violations and such but I’m not sure if this would work for, let’s say, jumping a red light.

Say cheeese (Image Courtesy : MediaNama)

The first leg of the project involves equipping 300 traffic cops with a Nokia E5. Now, we’ve reviewed the E5 and the camera isn’t one of its strong suits. It’s a fixed focus camera to begin with and also it takes a while to for the image to be processed once you hit the shutter button so if the offender is in motion, it's going to be almost impossible to get a clear shot. The trial runs have already begun in June along the National Highway 8 and the east and west traffic zones. Once the photo is uploaded, a challan will be dispatched to the offenders along with the co-ordinates of where the offence was committed. While this is good attempt at making the roads safer, I just don’t see it working. To capture an offence, the constable would have to be ready with the phone at all times which is not practical. Let’s see how well this pans out.