The festive season is here. Road safety seems to be perceived by the public as an issue only during these times.

The police have rightly increased their enforcement and have announced this strategy to increase public “perception of being caught.”

Both overt and covert enforcement are effective in increasing this perception.

Another opportunity which has not been fully tapped is the use of dashboard cameras on private vehicles.

Due to growing awareness of individual liability after road crashes and decreasing prices, dashboard cameras are  increasingly being used.

In the past, the traffic police used this as supporting evidence. These private cameras could be harnessed to investigate road traffic crashes which result in serious or fatal injuries.

More importantly, the public will be aware that they may be “caught” on cameras anywhere or anytime.

Enforcement will be increasingly perceived to be universal and round the clock.

Issues such as protection of such “whistleblowers,” legal legitimacy of such “secondary” evidence and public acceptance need to be discussed by the relevant stakeholders.

(Dr. Krishnan Rajam is Clinical Professor at AIMST University, and former Technical Officer (Injury Prevention), WHO Western Pacific Regional Office.)