Punjab: Police to videograph accident scenes, upload footage on central portal

The Punjab Transport Department has made it mandatory for the police and other agencies concerned to videograph accident scenes and on-spot investigations so that the footage could be uploaded on a central portal, making it easier for victims’ kin to get compensation.

From reaching the spot to the registration of an FIR and evacuating the victim to a nearby hospital, the e-Detailed Accident Report (e-DAR) portal of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) provides instant information, accelerating compensation claims.

According to the Ministry, hit-and-run incidents accounted for 18.1 per cent of total road accident deaths nationwide.

Its latest report reveals that pedestrian fatalities remain alarmingly high, constituting 18 per cent of the accident deaths in urban areas and 13 per cent in villages.

A senior functionary in the Transport Department said not only the police, officials from the Public Works Department (PWD) and other related government agencies would visit the spot to analyse the reasons for repeated road accidents at a particular spot, often referred to as black spots.

The portal helps identify accident hotspots, enabling targeted interventions to improve road safety.

The detailed accident reports are linked to the Integrated Road Accident Database (iRAD). The applications to more than 90 per cent of the datasets would be pushed directly to the e-DAR. Stakeholders like the police, road authorities, hospitals are required to enter very minimal information for the e-DAR forms.

The portal not only provides geotagging of accident spots along with site maps, notifying investigating officers of their distance from the incident spot, it will provide photos, videos, damaged vehicles, injured victims and eyewitness accounts.

It is connected to other government portals like Vaahan, accessing information on vehicle registration and driving license details, said the functionary.