Big boss watching! Digital billboard at Bengaluru's Trinity Circle displays traffic violations in real time

Bengaluru: The Bengaluru Traffic Police, in collaboration with CrashFreeIndia, a road safety initiative by Cars24, have installed a digital billboard at Trinity Circle that displays the traffic violations of vehicles in real time.

The APR camera installed on the billboard scans vehicle number plates to track traffic violations, with the primary intention of raising awareness among citizens. Many drivers are often unaware that they have violated traffic rules. “It is a good program to create awareness amongst citizens. Even though the majority are law-abiding, they may have committed violations unknowingly,” Karthik Reddy, Joint Commissioner, Bengaluru Traffic Police told DH. “It does not force people to pay the fines on the spot but is only a way to push people to be aware and then pay up,” he added.

The system works by scanning number plates, running them through AI, and retrieving details of violations from the VAHAN database. “We are not just reminding people to clear challans or update documents. We’re reminding them that every act of responsibility on the road, no matter how small, is what keeps an entire city safe. Safety doesn’t come from systems alone; it comes from choices. And the road is the one place where your choices instantly touch thousands of lives,” Gajendra Jangid, Co-Founder & CMO, Cars24, told DH.

The idea for the billboard came after discussions between Cars24 representatives and Joint Commissioner of Police, Traffic, Bengaluru Karthik Reddy on how many citizens are either unaware of their challans or simply ignore them. “The idea came from how teachers used to write the names of noisy students on the blackboard,” a Cars24 representative told DH.

Mixed response!

The initiative has drawn mixed responses. While some commuters welcome the move, others view it as an invasion of privacy. However, since its installation, several challans have already been cleared, and many commuters have pledged to drive more responsibly.

The billboard scans number plates through cameras, processes the data with AI, and flashes the results. Vehicles with violations see their number plate displayed along with details of their offences, while those with a clean record receive a thumbs-up and a “Good job, keep it up” message. Each number plate is shown for 30 to 40 seconds before the display changes.