The pilot initiative by the Sri Lanka Police to trace traffic offenders through CCTV cameras, described as a measure to curb traffic violations, has been well received by stakeholders, who are optimistic regarding its potential to improve road safety, although the system is in an elementary stage at present.
The pilot project aimed at identifying traffic offenders through the CCTV system in Colombo was launched in Colombo on Monday (22), through which any motorist detected committing violations will be notified in the event a traffic offence is recorded.
The enforcement of laws against traffic violators is set to commence from 1 February. Accordingly, traffic offenders will be tracked using Police CCTV cameras placed in 33 crucial locations in Colombo.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Traffic Administration and Road Safety Division Director DIG Indika Hapugoda said that the Police had detected 125 traffic offences on the first day of the pilot programme (22), 140 on the second day, and nearly 175 on Wednesday (24).
“The CCTV pilot project will continue until 28 January, without issuing any fines to offenders. The pilot project’s deficiencies, technical defects, etc. will be assessed from 29-31 January and it will come into effect from 1 February, wherein offenders will be issued a fine sheet.”
He explained that through the pilot project, once an offender was captured through CCTV footage, the registered owner of the vehicle would be identified through the Department of Motor Traffic (DMT) database and the owner notified.
Once the process is fine tuned, an online system will be introduced.
Upgrade on manual process
Previously, identifying and following up on traffic offenders has been a manual process, posing several limitations in actively minimising traffic violations and accidents.
Police CCTV Division Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Thushara Gamalath told The Sunday Morning that while previously they had been able to spot violations through the manual system, it had been a slow process.
For instance, once a violation is spotted, the Police officer on the scene has to be informed, after which the offender is issued a charge sheet. However, through the new system, the footage of the violation will be used to look up the vehicle registration number through the DMT database and trace the relevant registered owner.
Thereafter, both the Police division in which the offence was committed as well as the division to which the vehicle owner belongs will receive a document detailing the offence, which will include video footage. Police will inform the owner, after which they can observe the footage and either pay the fine or initiate legal action.
For this purpose, Police have been given access to the DMT database, which allows them to source the owner’s details through the vehicle number.
“Earlier, this was a manual process and although the CCTV recorded around 150 violations daily, officers were only able to handle around 10 cases,” DIG Hapugoda shared, noting that the new process would enable the Government to earn significant revenue through fines, which had previously not been possible.
Limited resources
However, DIG Gamlath noted that the capacity of Sri Lanka’s technological and manpower resources needed improving – a process that was being undertaken step by step given the constraints of the prevailing situation and the limited resources of the Police.
“Compared to the rest of the world, our technology is significantly behind. Our process is only semi-automated; what we currently have is an automated system that runs alongside a manual system,” he noted, stressing that they were hoping to develop this further as it would be an investment for the future.
“Police officers cannot be on the road all the time and the range of what they can observe is limited. Moreover, when they have to stop a vehicle, it causes traffic. Also, through the CCTV system, there is also a psychological impact on drivers, wherein they are aware that they can be observed committing any traffic violation at any location and fined. It will compel drivers to be more disciplined on the road, which otherwise only happens when they see a Police officer.”
Outlining the benefits of the new system, DIG Hapugoda said: “We can now identify drivers who commit traffic violations and inculcate discipline in drivers.”
He further noted that the Acting IGP had issued a circular to make Traffic OICs and senior Police authorities at Police divisions aware of the process.
Transparency
Despite the purported upgrade to the existing manual system, questions remain as to whether the new initiative will succeed in its implementation when it comes to prosecuting offenders, given the haphazard application at present.
DIG Hapugoda stressed that the process would be transparent, since the CCTV footage would be recorded: “There will be no distinction between the powerful or regular citizens; anyone can be caught if they commit a traffic violation. Since the footage will be recorded, there will be no discrimination in how the law is applied. This is also one of the positives of this process; no one can ask to be excused from fault based on connections, since the recorded footage will be sent directly to the Police.”
DIG Gamlath too said: “This is what is special about this initiative; once footage is received as evidence, things are transparent since no one can dispute the evidence and everyone is bound to abide by the charges that will follow.”
High fatality rate
The World Bank’s report titled ‘Delivering Road Safety in Sri Lanka’ notes that 3,000 road fatalities were reported in 2016, with pedestrians making up almost a third of this number and two and three-wheelers more than half.
Estimated annual road crash deaths per capita (17.4) in Sri Lanka are twice the average rate in high-income countries and five times that of the best performing countries in the world. The reported fatality rate (17.4) is the worst among Sri Lanka’s immediate neighbours in the South Asian region, the report states.
According to the National Council for Road Safety (NCRS), on average 38,000 crashes result in around 3,000 fatalities and 8,000 serious injuries annually, with most of these crashes occurring during the festive months of April and December.
According to the report, anecdotal evidence points to speed, drunk driving, fatigue, and burst tyre/animal crossing as the main causes for crashes.
A welcome move
Meanwhile, University of Moratuwa Department of Transport Management and Logistics Engineering Senior Lecturer Dr. T. Sivakumar noted that the implementation of CCTV camera enforcement methods was a long-awaited and positive measure.
He shared that the CCTV cameras were one of the preventive measures under the three Es of road safety – Engineering, Education, and Enforcement – and expressed his belief that this would have a positive impact overall.
“Many countries have proven that installing a CCTV camera alone reduces accidents, because once the monitoring system is in place, people become wary of breaking rules. Accordingly, speed reduction and lane changing behaviour are automatically routinised by the enforcement methods, i.e. CCTV cameras.”
He noted a twofold purpose of this measure, one being accident-prevention and the second being the improvement of people’s attitudes through enforcement.
While endorsing the implementation of the project, he however stressed that it needed to be a well-connected area-wide network spanning as many locations as possible: “Some years ago, the monitoring system had a very large dashboard of cameras and a lot of people monitoring the city at the control centre, but now the technology has improved and it doesn’t require a lot of manpower or 24/7 monitoring.”
However, he noted that while less human resources would be needed, it still required a high quality of personnel. “We need to have some capacity building of existing people or add another layer of technically-sound people into the system.”
CCTV system essential
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) Prevention of Road Traffic Crashes (PRTC) Expert Committee Convener Dr. Thushara Matiwalage stressed that with road traffic accidents being the main public health problem in Sri Lanka, establishing a proper CCTV camera system in the country was essential.
He shared that road traffic accidents were the biggest man-made disaster in the country, with 2,300 people being killed on the roads last year. The World Bank estimates that road crash fatalities and injuries could cost countries like Sri Lanka between 3-5% of GDP annually.
“We have only 8,500 traffic Police officers, which is not adequate to control traffic. In developed countries, they take measures to reduce traffic accidents with strict rules and a well-established monitoring system, whereby they send charge sheets to the homes of offenders.”
Accordingly, he pointed out that Sri Lanka too needed to introduce technology to enforce road discipline: “Establishing a CCTV surveillance system is part of digital enforcement – this is the number one thing to do in Sri Lanka to reduce road traffic accidents. The SLMA’s PRTC Expert Committee believes that this is the most important action to be taken by the Government, and we fully support it. It is good to start at least in the city of Colombo.”
