Thiruvananthapuram: As many as 28,891 people got caught for violating traffic rules on the first day of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) -enabled cameras that went live across the state on Monday.
The most offenders who got trapped in the surveillance cameras from 9 am to 5 pm on Monday were from the Kollam district – 4774 people. It is followed by Thiruvananthapuram (4362), Pathanamthitta (1177), Alappuzha (1288), Kottayam (21940, Idukki (14830, Ernakulam (1889), Thrissur (3995), Palakkad (1007), Malappuram (545), Kozhikode (1550), Wayanad (1146), Kannur (2437) and Kasaragod (1040).
The first to get trapped in the surveillance cameras was three persons in Thiruvananthapuram city at 9 am itself. They were caught riding on two motorbikes without helmets and travelling in a car with no seat belts.
The number of offences on the first day of levying fine was far less than those on May 3 when 1.93 lakh traffic violations were detected. Transport Minister Antony Raju pointed out that the lesser traffic violations during the eight-hour daytime, including peak traffic hours, are a good sign.
Meanwhile, the Motor Vehicle Department experienced technical glitches while sending the fine challans to traffic offenders. Till then, the department had sent only awareness notices to such people. The National Informatics Centre (NIC) officials noticed the issue when the challans were issued for the first time. The same was rectified by 6 pm.
However, the SMS alerts to those who got caught for traffic offences will be sent only from Tuesday. This is due to a delay in the process of getting the nod from the Telecom Authority of India (Trai) after explaining to them the method of sending the alerts.
Height to be gauged in exempting children below 12
Meanwhile, changes will be incorporated in the camera surveillance system to exempt fines for children below 12 years travelling in two-wheelers. If three persons are travelling on a motorcycle, only the third person who is having the minimum predetermined height will be levied the fine. The control room technician too would inspect the images and the fine will be levied only after this.
The system too will have an inbuilt facility to inspect the pictures of others below this height and exempt them.
Though the Government decided to exempt those under 12 years, there were practical difficulties that necessitated a temporary change in the camera software.
