Hi Friends,

Even as I launch this today ( my 80th Birthday ), I realize that there is yet so much to say and do. There is just no time to look back, no time to wonder,"Will anyone read these pages?"

With regards,
Hemen Parekh
27 June 2013

Now as I approach my 90th birthday ( 27 June 2023 ) , I invite you to visit my Digital Avatar ( www.hemenparekh.ai ) – and continue chatting with me , even when I am no more here physically

Saturday, 13 February 2021

Young : and dying on roads

 


 

Context :

Nearly 1.5 lakh people are dying on roads and a majority of them are young / TOI  / 28 Jan 2021


Extract / Quotes from interview with Shri Nitin Gadkariji :


Ø  There are lapses in road engineering and we need to fix that. We have decided to conduct a safety audit of all roads and to see that there are proper road markings, signage and crash barriers. We are planning to give these tasks to IITs and reputed engineering colleges. They can identify problems and suggest how these can be rectified.

 

Ø  There is hardly any compliance of lane driving. Trucks and heavy vehicles are always on the extreme right lane. You can see two-wheelers almost doing a circus on roads. The rules of road have to be followed.


Ø  We need to have a mechanism so that people can become the watchdog. We will allow people to click photographs of violations and send them. They can spot vehicles parked on roads and report them. Let them get a part of the fine as incentive. Unfortunately, for us, roads mean free of charge parking lots for all.


Ø  We find old buses, trucks and vehicles dumped on roads for years. These also cause crashes. We have to stop this and remove them. We will make a rule for this and all such violations will be treated as an offence


Ø  We need full time people to take up this work. The Road Safety Board, which is being set up, will take the lead


Ø  I am not making a comparison of road deaths with Covid. But just see how all of us got so sensitised about the disease and came together to defeat it.


Ø  Nearly 1.5 lakh people are dying on roads and a majority of them are young. But why are we not sensitized ? I don’t spare myself for failing to do my bit.


Ø  Road safety cannot be an annual event like observing a ‘punyatithi’. We have to institutionalize it and this must go on for the entire year.


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Dear Shri Gadkariji,


We know that you do not spare yourself .

But it is not easy to “sensitize“ vehicle drivers / riders . You have been working on this ( premature accidental death ) problem for many years, without significant reduction in deaths .


Following are main contributors :


Ø  Poor condition of roads ( including poor lighting )

Ø  Poor condition of Vehicles

Ø  Careless / rash driving on part of the drivers



Even as we continue to “ sensitizedrivers , there is an urgent need to “ institutionalize “ the vehicles


By mandating that vehicle manufacturers embed / pre-install following types of SENSORS ( over 2 years ? ):


     #   Empty weight and fully laden weight

     #   Engine ( or Electric Motor ) temperature

 

     #   Pressures / Displacements / Compression Ratios in case of petrol / diesel

 

          Vehicles / Battery Charge Levels / fuel consumption

 

     #   Emission Levels ( PM2.5 / CO2 etc ) in petrol / diesel vehicles

 

     #   Tyre pressures / wear and tear of moving parts / RPM

 

     #   Vehicle speed / acceleration / braking distance

 

     #   Proximity to other moving / stationary vehicles or objects

 

     #   Weather conditions / Visibility levels / Traffic Density

 

     #   Condition of the road being traversed ( co-efficient of friction )

 

     #   Condition of the person driving ( sleepy / drunk etc )

 

     #   Whatever else you want “ measured / monitored / relayed  

 

 

If rigidly implemented, these sensors will ensure that the vehicles are “ Fit for driving at all times ( from birth till scrappage ).

 

There would be no need for taking the vehicle to the nearest “ FITNESS TESTING CENTRE “ ( of which , I believe there are only 25 in our entire country, at this moment – and only 2 are functional )

 

Why wait for 15 / 20 years to discover that a vehicle is UNFIT ? – then refuse to renew its registration ?

 

We all know of cars with sensors which will not allow the engine to START, unless the driver has fastened the seat belt

 

It is possible for today’s technology to IMMOBILIZE any vehicle instantly, if any of the above-mentioned SENSORS find that the particular parameter is SUB-STANDARD !

 

 Is it too difficult to imagine a car engine not starting if the driver is DRUNK ? Or pulling aside on the road if driver is “ not attentive but feeling sleepy “ ?. I believe AMAZON is about to introduce this in all of its Delivery Vehicles in USA

  

 I have no doubt you have read reports of FSD ( Full Self Driving ) cars reducing “ Accident Rate “ by 99 % !

 

It seems, hardware ( Sensors - Cameras – Radars – Lidar  etc ) and the software installed in these cars are far better able to,

 

#   “ Sense / Detect / Predict “ traffic conditions – and

 

#   take “ Preventive actions “

 

much better / quicker than human drivers !

 

Even for a moment, I am not suggesting that, we need to introduce  DRIVERLESS  cars ( FSD at Level 5.0 )

 

For many reasons (including not rendering drivers jobless ), we need to keep the drivers

 

But that must not hold us back from introducing (mandatory over next 2 years ? ) FSD technology in our cars !

 

In fact ( on pilot-runs of millions of miles by TESLA – WAYMO – GM etc ), the fantastic ability of  DRIVERLESS ( FSD ) cars to literally ELIMINATE deaths on roads due to accidents ( attributable to human driver limitations ), has got so well established that one USA State has changed AUTO SAFETY FEATURE law, whereby future FSD cars , need not have :

 

Ø  Steering Wheel

Ø  Accelerator – Brake Pedal

Ø  Gear Shift Mechanism

Ø  Driver Seat

Ø  Rear View Mirror

Ø  Concept of FRONT / REAR of a vehicle !


(  Read : U.S. exempts self-driving vehicles from some crash standards  /  ET Auto  / 15 Jan 2021  )



Dear Shri Gadkariji,



Although TESLA is the current world-leader in FSD experimentation ( in its electric cars ), and would be most welcome should it decide to set up manufacturing facility in India , introduction of sensor-based FSD technology can be easily done by our own domestic car manufacturers ( many of which are subsidiaries of leading foreign auto companies and have access to latest technology )


I urge you to ask those “ IITs  and reputed Engineering Colleges “ to examine suggestions , contained in my following earlier e-mails before submitting their recommendations to you


POSER :

What price ( in terms of extra cost / selling price of a vehicle ) would be worth paying to save 1.5 lakh young lives , every year ?


Interim Solution :

Un-Implementable Laws : Unstoppable Corruption  ……[ 20 Feb 2017 ]

 Ultimate Solution :

Transport : an Integrated Logistic Plan ? ……………………….[ 20 Nov 2018 ]


FOLLOWING  E-MAILS PERTAIN  TO  PARKING  PROBLEMS – SOLUTIONS :

Ø  A Radical Radial Revolution ! …………………………..[ 18 Aug 2016 ]

Ø  Name of the Game : Co-operation…………………..[ 23 Sept 2016 ]

Ø  One Car per Family ? ……………………………………….[ 27 Sept 2016 ]

Ø  Wisdom of the Ancients ……………………………………[ 05 Oct 2016 ]

Ø  A Knee Jerk Approach ? …………………………………..[ 22 Dec 2016 ]

Ø  Internet of Vehicles ( IoV ) ? ……………………………[ 04 Mar 2017 ]

Ø  Shri Raoteji has a Vision…………………………………..[ 23 Mar 2017 ]

Ø  Passing the Buck ?....................................... [ 18 Apr 2017 ]

Ø  Leveraging NaviC ?.......................................[ 30 May 2017 ]

Ø  Who says IMPOSSIBLE ? …………………………………..[ 31 May 2017 ]

Ø  Urban Transport Policy……………………………………….[ 09 June 2017 ]

Ø  Why don’t they park in their flats ?..................[ 01 Sept 2017 ]

Ø  A Sensible Solution………………………………………………[ 03 Sept 2017 ]

Ø  Where will SoBo park its cars ?........................[ 19 Sept 2017 ]

Ø  The  Next  Big  Thing…………………………………………..[ 14 Nov 2017 ]

Ø  Parking Mess ? It will get worse !.....................[ 01 Jan 2018 ]

Ø  It is not that simple !......................................[ 31 Jan 2018 ]

Ø  No Takers ? No Wonder !.................................[ 13 Feb 2018 ]

Ø  Who killed BMC Parking Policy ? I did not !.........[ 31 Mar 2018 ]


*   A  Law  on  Parking  ?......................................[ 13 Apr 2018 ]

 

 TRAFFIC  MANAGEMENT RELATED E MAILS :

Ø       #  Congrats , Shri Shivang Luthraji, …………………[ 22 Sept 2018 ]

Ø  Gathering Speed at Snail’s Pace ? ……………….[ 02 Oct 2018 ]

Ø  Transport Solutions ? Must try everything …..[ 26 Oct 2018 ]

Ø  Better Late than Never !  ………………………………[ 01 Nov 2018 ] 

Ø  When will the rest follow ? …………………………….[ 14 Nov 2018 ] 

Ø  Traffic Congestion ? Finally, a solution in sight ?[ 31 May 2019 ]

Ø  BEST app will have destination alarm ……………[ 02 Sept 2019 ]

Ø  Realization ? Yes but Gradual and Grudgingly ? [ 16 Sept 2019 ]

Ø  A Railway Revolution ? ……………………………………[ 13 Oct 2019 ]

Ø  Congratulations, Avinash Dhakneji…………………[ 15 Dec 2020 ]

 

===================================================

With regards,

Hemen Parekh  /  hcp@RecruitGuru.com  /  14 Feb 2021

===================================================

CC to :

Ø  Prof Shalini Bharat, Vice-Chancellor, Director ( TISS ) /  director@tiss.edu

 

Ø  Prof. Dr V H Iyer , Professor Emeritus and Dean

     Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Reserch  /                           

         vh.iyer@yahoo.com  

 

Ø  Mr. Ashok Datar, Advisor - Mumbai Parking Authority  / datar.ashok@gmail.com

 

Ø  Mumbai Mobility Forum  /  mumbai-mobility-forum@googlegroups.com

 

Ø  Mr A V Shenoy / shenoyav@gmail.com

 

#  All India Motor Transport Congress  /  aimtc@rediffmail.com  / 

aimtc1936@gmail.com 


Piyush Tewari , Save Life Foundation  /  piyushtewari@savelifefoundation.org 


==============================================


Road crashes in India sharply increase poverty and debt: World Bank

Extract :

Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari mentioned that  the report is “one of the eye-opening reports for the government. We will look to frame relevant laws and policies to address the challenges and work on the recommendations.

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