Mumbai: Drive safe in the New Year, traffic police will be using satellites to catch violators

The transport department plans to acquire 27 more vehicles. Pic/Rajendra B. Aklekar

Traffic violators will now be caught using radar-topped interceptors with the help of satellites in the new set of hi-tech vehicles planned to be launched for the annual Road Safety Week in January 2025.

"This is the first time in the country that such vehicles are being procured, and we are now working on installing the radars and other peripheral items. The radar technology will catch offenders in an entire marked area, instead of a single vehicle," a senior official from the Motor Vehicles Department said.

"Our current technology limits us to one vehicle at a time. With this new technology, we will be able to catch all of them together," added the official.

The violations fed into the database include offences like not wearing a helmet, seat belts, speeding, and the like.

As far as the latest new technology vehicles are concerned, the transport department has procured about 69 Mahindra Scorpio vehicles which will be fitted with the latest technology. It will cost about Rs 16 lakh.

The radars will have data embedded from the ‘Vahan' software which will make it possible to check vehicle speed from a distance of as far as 1.5 km away.

mid-day had earlier reported that the RTO flying squads already have 187 interceptor vehicles, equipped with speed guns and other key equipment for road safety. The cameras on those interceptors can detect number plates of vehicles at a range of over 500 metres.

The city's transport department further plans to acquire 27 more vehicles so that every RTO office is covered.

Maharashtra transport commissioner Vivek Bhimanwar confirmed the development to mid-day.

2025 Jan
Month new hi-tech vehicles to be launched