Mumbai: Cops to use GPS to find root cause of accidents

Traffic police's Crash Analysis Unit investigates and scrutinises every accident in the city. Representational Picture

Simple tech is what the Mumbai traffic police will now employ for better analysis of road accidents and try and curb them - GPS location of the spot and a new pro forma developed with the help of an NGO to understand each and every aspect of the accident.

The police have given a questionnaire to investigating officers to note down accident details. The 18 questions include type of road, type of vehicles involved in mishap, time of accident and possible speed of the vehicles. Most importantly, it asks cops to give coordinates of the spot.

Changing MO
Traffic police's Crash Analysis Unit (CAU) investigates and scrutinises every accident in the city. "Till now, a traffic cop would visit the spot and draw a map of it. In many cases, the investigating officer and the one assigned to carry out the panchnama would be different, and that made it difficult to zero in on the precise spot, which would lead to confusion over the real reason for the accident," said a senior officer from the traffic department. "Accidents were reported in the same old fashion, which was not useful in improving the place where they would occur."

Hence, this shift in methodology. Another officer said, "Now, one can get the coordinates by simply switching on the GPS in their smartphones, and with the help of that, the exact location can be determined."

Detailed analysis
Earlier, the CAU would make a note of places in the city where more than five fatal accidents had occurred as 'black spots' and work to make them safer. Now, with the help of the new method for analysis, the minutest details of every accident occurring in the city will be recorded. "With the help of this kind of analysis, not only will we have strong data, but it can also point out whether there is any engineering or human error involved in the accident," said another officer. "Once you fix the real reason behind the accident, the numbers will come down automatically."

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates