Kerala - Kozhikode   

System to rein in tipper lorries

KOZHIKODE: A trial run of the Global Positioning System (GPS)-enabled vehicle tracking system on tipper lorries will be held in the district this week.

The Regional Transport Authority (RTA) plans to conduct the trial run with the cooperation of nearly 50 vehicle owners.

With the installation of the GPS device, the movements of the tipper lorries can be monitored by officials from a control room. This will enable the traffic police to calculate the speed of the vehicles and track their route easily. Attempt at reckless overtakes will also be tracked.

The Regional Transport Authority, headed by the District Collector, and the Commissioner of Police hope to introduce the system in all tanker vehicles and school buses in the district if the trial run is a success and the device is installed in the tipper lorries. They have held the first round of discussions with the drivers who will be part of the first phase of the project.

Regional Transport Officer P.T. Sasidharan Nair said the expense of installing the GPS facility in a tipper lorry would come to around Rs.6,000. “Tipper lorry owners have agreed to bear this expense to install the device,” he said.

The Motor Vehicles Department will legalise the system after the trial run is over. If the trial run is a success, the installation of the GPS facility will be made mandatory for all tipper lorries permitted to carry out operations. The RTA has decided that the monitoring of the control room would be the responsibility of the traffic police wing.

A recent meeting of the RTA officials gave final approval to the project. The trial run was scheduled to be held last week but technical problems resulted in its postponement. “We had decided to start the installation process last Monday and complete the process in a week. The plan was postponed owing to the delay in getting the required GPS accessories for installation,” Mr. Nair said.

He said the accessories would reach the district this week and the trial run would be completed in a week.

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