The Kerala government will soon introduce geofencing for vehicles to check speeding of vehicles, Transport Minister K.B. Ganesh Kumar has said.
The Minister was delivering a talk at the third edition of the Kerala Legislative International Book Festival.
Geofencing is a virtual tool that will allow the Motor Vehicles department (MVD) to keep track of the speed of the vehicles in a specific area. A barcode fixed on the vehicle will be read by the speed sensor attached to the geofencing, thereby the speed of the vehicle can be measured with the help of GPS by the time it takes to cover a predefined geographical area.
The vehicles moving faster than the speed limit will be identified and slapped with a fine, said the Minister. Further, the government is planning to start black punching on driving licences of errant drivers as a penalty for repeated traffic violations. Their licence will be automatically suspended if the punching reaches a certain number. If the licence is cancelled for any reason, the process to get it reinstated will not be easy, he said.
There have been orchestrated attempts from different corners to thwart every reform being introduced by the government to ensure road safety. This was evident when the State brought in driving test reforms and started driving schools under the aegis of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC). However, things have changed now, he said.
In the past, the majority of driving test applicants used to pass the test without any issues, but now the pass percentage has came down to 50% when the test has been conducted efficiently, he said.
The KSRTC has so far generated revenue of ₹46 lakh from the driving school, making a profit of ₹11 lakh.
The civilian app should be used by youth to report driving offences. An app will also be launched for travel concessions for students on private buses, he said.
Published – January 10, 2025 10:08 am IST
