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.
===================================================
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 “ sensitize “ drivers
, 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 !
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 ]
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 /
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 /
Piyush Tewari , Save Life Foundation / piyushtewari@savelifefoundation.org
==============================================