Government Sets Up IIT Madras Centre of Excellence for Road Safety, Plans ATMS and ADAS Rollout on Highways

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has established a Centre of Excellence for Road Safety at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras to introduce global best practices and promote collaboration between academia, industry and government. All National Highways works are executed as per standards and guidelines of the Indian Roads Congress and specifications for road and bridge works, which are based on international benchmarks.

The ministry plans to deploy Advanced Traffic Management Systems on National Highways to improve safety and reduce accidents. The system will include AI-based Video Incident Detection and Enforcement Systems, Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras, Pan to Zoom cameras and surveillance networks for real-time monitoring, early incident detection and rapid field response. Several measures are also being implemented to enhance vehicle safety, including mandatory braking systems with Anti-lock Braking and endurance braking for M2, M3, N1, N2, N3 and quadricycle categories effective from January 2027 for new models.

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems such as Vehicle Stability Function, Lane Departure Warning, driver drowsiness alerts, blind spot information and moving off information will be introduced for M2, M3, N2 and N3 vehicles from October 2027 for new models. The government has identified high fatality corridors on National Highways and is undertaking site-specific remedial measures. Road safety awareness programmes, including National Road Safety Month, are conducted annually through campaigns, pamphlet distribution and helmet drives to minimise accidents and fatalities.