Need for inovation in vehicular safety: Police chief

Lamenting the loss of around 2,000 lives in accidents on Kerala's roads in the first half of the year, state police chief Loknath Behera today called for raised awareness and an increased emphasis on innovation in vehicular safety.
While the Kerala Police would do its best to enforce traffic safety rules, society must realise that we share a collective responsibility to prevent accidents. Enforcement will only work if coupled with awareness. A driving license is not a license to kill, Behera said.
He was speaking at the launch of 'SafeDrive' - an innovative smart car gadget that turns vehicles into 'safe, smart and connected' cars.

Designed, developed and manufactured by Elsys Intelligent Devices, a former startup incubat ed by the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM), the easy to install gadget is compatible with almost any car in India.
Equipped with crash sensors, GPS module, microphone, speaker and cellular connectivity, SafeDrive offers an 'In-Vehicle Emergency Call' (eCall) feature that automatically notifies the emergency centre for help in the event of a severe collision - even when the victims are unable to respond due to injury or shock.
Upon detecting a serious impact, SafeDrive initiates a voice-call and sends out a 'Minimum Set of Data' (MSD) that includes the exact location of the incident and speed of the vehicle.

This helps the emergency centre assess the situation, speak with the victims, notify their family/friends and coordinate emergency assistance.
Other features include a one-touch assistance button, hands-free two-way calling, live vehicle-tracking, trip history, smart alerts, roadside assistance, driving analysis and score.