Bhubaneswar: In a move aimed at enhancing the safety and visibility of traffic personnel during night duty, the Commissionerate Police have introduced shoulder-mounted blinking lights for traffic cops deployed on roads across the twin cities.
The new lights are designed to make traffic personnel more visible to approaching motorists, particularly in dark and poorly lit stretches, and help reduce the risk of officers being hit by vehicles while regulating traffic at night.
The initiative is also expected to help motorists identify traffic police personnel from a distance and follow their directions more easily. The flashing lights will remain noticeable in low-visibility conditions, including rain, fog and other situations where conventional visibility may be reduced.
Police Commissioner S Dev Datta Singh said the initiative was intended to ensure the safety of personnel as well as provide a sense of security to people travelling on the roads at night.
“People will now know that police personnel are present at a particular place at night. It will provide a sense of security to the public and also ensure the safety of police personnel,” Singh said while speaking to the media on Monday.
The Commissioner said the system, which has initially been introduced for traffic police personnel, could also be extended to police teams deployed at night-time naka points.
“As I spoke with the Bhubaneswar DCP, we are also planning to expand it to naka points during the night so that people know that police personnel are present there,” Singh said.
The shoulder-mounted lights are expected to improve the visibility of traffic cops while they stand on roads to manage vehicular movement, especially during late-night hours when visibility is relatively poor.
