Minister of Road Transport & Highways Government of India, Nitin Gadkari, at the second edition of Intel’s all.ai 2021 summit, talked about how he envisions amalgamating technology with road transport. Gadkari said road safety is the topmost priority of the Indian government, which is endeavouring to reduce road accidents by 50% by 2024.
Commenting on newer technologies, the minister said there are opportunities aplenty for the application of AI-driven technologies in the transport sector, which removes human interference and the possibility of errors, thereby improving efficiencies and safety in traffic movement.
“My vision is to use AI for enforcement purposes and specifically where State government machinery is falling short due to a variety of reasons. AI can be used to combine data from all of the above-mentioned applicable sources and the data used to make suitable changes at the policy level. The private sector can extend its cooperation and can provide technical assistance to engineering students and third-party agencies to study and submit an Accident Analysis report using AI-based technologies,” said Gadkari.
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Gadkari further added saying, ”Being the transport minister and an admirer of innovative technology, I am very much supportive towards application of world’s best and most advanced technologies for transport-related issues. I encourage AI usage for enforcement of urgent and pressing areas such as:
- Enforcement of lane discipline on national highways, especially for trucks,
- Detection of over-speeding and seat-belt usage in vehicles,
- Forensic post-crash investigation,
- The pattern of accidents on black spots,
- Fatigue indicators and sleep detectors for drivers, and
- Advanced vehicle collision system.”
As per the current global scenario, AI is one of the most advanced emerging technologies applied everywhere, from speech and image recognition to space exploration. In a definite sense, AI integrates humans and technology, making the machines think, act, and perform beyond human capacities. This technology can help solve problems efficiently, bringing comfort, reliability, and safety while improving knowledge sharing and bringing transparency. This will improve communications that are critical to improving the delivery systems.
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Mr Gadkari also talked in detail about iRASTE, an Artificial Intelligence-powered project, on a pilot basis in Nagpur in Maharashtra, with the aim of reducing accidents by 50 per cent in Vidarbha’s biggest city. This is a collaborative effort between the government, Intel, INAI, IIIT-Hyderabad, CSIR-CRRI (Central Road Research Institute), Mahindra & Mahindra and Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC). The project will focus on vehicle safety, mobility analysis and road infrastructure safety to move towards a “Vision Zero” accident scenario.
