Last Updated: 27 Nov 2024
SSF is the NEW High Tech 21st century Road Safety Force, manning the highways of Punjab[1]
-- 144 new powerful vehicles bought: 116 High End Toyota Hilux & 28 Scorpio
-- Fitted with specialized equipment to check drunken driving and over speeding
-- Each covering a distance of 30 kilometres
Before SSF, many accident victims went unattended or were helped only by fellow commuters[2]
IMPACT: 45.55% LESS Deaths in Road accidents during Feb-Oct 2024 as compared to same period 2023[2:1]. Details here
-- Feb-Oct 2023: 1,686 deaths were reported, with highest 232 in October
-- Feb-Oct 2024: 768 lives SAVED as Death Count dropped to 918, with highest 124 recorded in October again
Cost Analysis[3]: Most cost-effective road safety measures
-- Socioeconomic cost of a single fatal accident pegged at Rs 1.1 crore
-- SSF’s monthly operational cost is less than 50% of cost of one fatal crash
¶ Impact Report: 1 Feb - 31 Oct 2024 (9 months)[2:2]
Average response time of 6 minute 41 seconds, surpasses the platinum 10-minute benchmark established by developed nations for emergency services
- SSF attended to and rescued 17,469 accident victims
- Road Accident Data & Impact of new Initiatives
¶ Features[4][1:1]
Phase 2: Focus on enforcing violations such as speeding, drunk driving, use of mobile phone while driving and non-compliance with helmet and seatbelt laws[3:1]
- Ultra modern force covers 5500 kms of state and national highways
- 1728 cops immediately deployed; 1296 out of the newly recruited Police personnel
- Further to be strengthened to 5000 with time
- SSF is provided powerful Patrolling vehicles; also used for chasing criminals
- Central Control Room to be setup
- Anti-corruption measures: Body Cameras will be used to equip Field Officers
- Initial budget ₹29.5 crores allocated & disbursed already
Special uniforms[3:2]
Uniforms and vehicles were designed for enhanced visibility and safety, particularly for night operations
- Uniforms feature retroreflective piping and jackets with reflective bands
- Why Special Uniforms?:National Crime Records Bureau reveals that 650 to 700 police and paramilitary personnel lose their lives every year while on duty and 80-90% of these fatalities are due to road accidents
Women Participation[3:3]
Women were earlier excluded from vehicle driving and maintenance training due to outdated norms
- SSF became the first Punjab Police unit to have 350 women in motor transport training
- Women constitute 28% of initial 1600 strength, marking a significant step towards gender equality in law enforcement
Training[3:4]
- A 12-module course was introduced
- Covers crash investigation, emergency response, road engineering basics and advanced navigation technology
Data Driven Planning[3:5]
- Strategic halting points, that have been determined by using three years’ accident data, ensure optimal coverage and response time
- Patrolling routes and schedules (morning, evening, late night and lean hours) are planned using crowd-sourced data from Google Maps and TomTom, ensuring near-real time response and comprehensive coverage
Ongoing Advanced Upgradation[3:6]
- Advanced technologies like AI-based surveillance systems, predictive analytics and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) offers opportunities for enhancing efficiency
- Collaborations with insurance companies, which directly benefit from reduced accidents, could provide additional financial support for the initiative
¶ Tech & Tools[5]
All vehicles have been equipped with ultra modren gadgets like
- Speed gun
- Alchometer
- E-chalan machines
- AI enabled smart mechanism to check the violation of traffic rules
¶ Deployed Teams[5:1]
The teams will be deployed 24X7 in 8 hour shift each
- A team of 4 cops headed by officer not less than rank of ASI, as patrol incharge, will be there in the vehicles
- Road interceptors will be deployed at every district which will be manned by 3 cops
Recovery van
They will also have recovery van along with command and control centre enabled real time CCTV cameras
Tech & Investigation teams
There will be
- Road crash investigation and mechanical engineers
- Civil engineers
- IT experts for handling technical assignments
¶ Vision[4:1][6]
SSF formed to increase road safety & bring down the number of accidents in the state
-- 2021: 4476 lives were lost in 580 road accidents
-- Highway Patrol Routes identified based on the past years' road accidents trends
- Punjab Govt announced to form a new Road Safety Force/Sadak Suraksha Force (SSF)
- SSF has separate uniform[1:2]
- SSF will also reduce the load from Punjab Police
- SSF will help people on the roads: help in removing stuck vehicles, trees or any obstructions on the roads with the help of cranes provided to them
- Nodal Officer: ADGP Traffic AS Rai
¶ Road Safety Research Center
- India's first such research center for road safety
- Already completed 1 year under AAP Govt; operating since 27 April 2022
- Impactful first year too
Read details here:
References:
https://www.bhaskar.com/local/punjab/news/igp-headquarters-sukhchain-singh-gill-press-conference-on-drugs-recovery-arrested-accused-in-punjab-police-operation-131395910.html ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/road-accident-deaths-punjab-ssf-deployment-9668164/lite/ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/comment/punjabs-road-initiative-shows-the-way-to-safer-highways/ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
https://www.babushahi.com/full-news.php?id=169381&headline=Mann-Cabinet-paves-way-for-Constitution-of-Sadak-Surakhya-Force-in-Punjab ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/punjab-to-get-road-safety-force-to-check-accidents-cm-bhagwant-mann-8655300/ ↩︎
