Solar-powered single pole blinkers were installed at 51 identified hotspots that include key intersections and arterial roads in Ranipet district to prevent accidents.

The Superintendent of Police (SP) P. Sibin launched the initiative in Ranipet town. Police sources said that hotspots are classified as those areas where accidents have resulted in many fatalities. The spots include road over bridges (ROB), stretches, and junctions.

Narrowness of the carriageway, curves with poor visibility, lack of road markings, pothole-ridden stretches, and a lack of better streetlights are found to be reasons for such fatal accidents. “Most of the identified hot spots do not have caution signages like reflectors, blinkers, and solar studs that could alert motorists for the need to go slow on the route,” R. Saravanan, Technical Inspector, Police Telecommunication Unit ( Ranipet), told The Hindu.

At present, the district police patrols 250 km every day as part of road safety measures.

Separate police teams have been formed from each police station to carry out two-wheeler patrolling. A high-level team led by the SP monitors road safety activities on a daily basis. “Apart from road safety measures, the police should also prevent rash driving on arterial roads, especially during the night and holidays. The new single pole blinkers should be extended to stretches in small towns to prevent accidents,” said G. Vishnu, a motorist. 

As per plan, the single pole blinkers, which are around 15 ft in height, have a visibility of at least one kilometre. Each pole, which costs ₹21,000 under Road Safety Fund, works round the clock with solar-powered batteries. Other road safety measures like automated traffic signals, barricades, reflectors, tree reflector lights, and solar studs are also installed at such accident-prone spots in the district.

Police sources said that as per estimates, on an average, at least 5-8 persons are killed in identified hotspot areas every three months. Most of the victims are pedestrians and two-wheelers. Of 51 identified hot spots, areas like Ranipet, Arcot, and Walajah have at least 36 hotspots, including Arappakam junction near CMC, Walajah intersection with Chennai - Bengaluru Highway (NH 48) and Avalur and Kaveripakkam junctions.