NEW DELHI: Accident investigation and road safety reconnaissance in Delhi are all set to get more professional and scientific with the launch of CrashLab2, the next generation mobile laboratory that was launched in the Capital on Saturday. The mobile lab, mounted on an Optra Tavera, would facilitate investigations of accidents in a most fair manner and also point out instances where motorists are not essentially at fault.

The launch of CrashLab2, which has been brought in by Institute of Road Traffic Education assumes significance since till now the vehicle or the heavier vehicle had been blamed for an accident. But by reaching the accident sites quickly and undertaking scientific investigations, the mobile laboratory would help in establishing who really was at fault.

Speaking at the inauguration, Joint Commissioner Delhi Traffic Police Qamar Ahmed said the technological innovation would be of utmost use to the traffic police in road safety audit. Additional Commissioner (Traffic) M.S. Upadhye said while it is important to save the vulnerable road users -- the pedestrians and the cyclists, a discussion and dialogue are equally essential to study road accidents in a scientific manner.

President of IRTE Rohit Baluja said at a time when the state of traffic management was deteriorating in the country, the CrashLab2 would initiate the process of road safety management.

It was pointed out that of the estimated 1.4 million serious road accidents in India annually, only 0.4 million are recorded and only a small percentage of them are scientifically investigated in the absence of which the real causes and consequences are never known. Therefore the remedial measures and punishment for the violators are also arbitrary and mostly the larger vehicles are labelled the culprit in cases of vehicle-to-vehicle collision and when a pedestrian or cyclist is involved, the motorist is held guilty.

Mr Baluja said as road safety can only be improved when the causes and consequences of accidents are understood and remedial measures found out, it was considered important to obtain and record all the physical evidence and information relating to the collision before any such evidence was destroyed, tampered with or lost.

This is where the CrashLab2, mounted on a Chevrolet Tavera Diesel MUV, would step in. It is customised and equipped with the latest technological innovations such as a high resolution digital video and still camera with high optical zoom which can be raised to a height of 12 feet on an electro-pneumatic retractable mast.

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