Punjab: Police will videograph accident sites and upload footage on central portal

Punjab: The Punjab Transport Department has made it mandatory for the police and other concerned agencies to videograph accident sites and spot investigations so that the footage can be uploaded on a central portal and make it easier for the victims’ kin to get compensation. From reaching the spot to filing an FIR and taking the victim to the nearest hospital, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH)’s e-Detailed Accident Report (e-DAR) portal provides instant information, thereby speeding up compensation claims. According to the ministry, 18.1 per cent of total road accident deaths across the country are due to hit-and-run incidents. Its latest report shows that pedestrian fatalities remain alarmingly high, accounting for 18 per cent of accidents in urban areas and 13 per cent in villages. Not just the police, but also the Public Works Department (PWD) and other related government agencies will visit the spot to analyse the reasons for recurrent road accidents at a particular location, often called a black spot, a senior official of the transport department said. The portal helps identify accident hotspots, enabling targeted interventions to improve road safety. Detailed accident reports are linked to the Integrated Road Accident Database (iRAD). Applications for more than 90 per cent of the datasets will be sent directly to e-DAR. Stakeholders like police, road authorities, hospitals will have to enter very little information for the e-DAR form. The portal not only provides geotagging of accident sites with site maps, informing investigating officers about their distance from the spot, but it will also provide photographs, videos, damaged vehicles, injured victims and eyewitness details. It is also linked to other government portals like Vahan, where information on vehicle registration and driving licence details can be accessed, the official said.