Oct. 31: Dispur has made it mandatory for vehicle drivers to install automatic dipper devices in old and new vehicles for a safer drive at night.

Earlier this month, the transport department issued a notification to district transport offices in the state for the mandatory installation of automatic dipper devices under the Central Motor Vehicles Rules 1989 and Central Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

This had been done in view of the safety of road users and to honour the verdict of Supreme Court on public safety. Invented by Lalit Sharma of Punjab-based Mahashakti Energy Ltd, the device can sense the high beam of two vehicles coming from the opposite direction and automatically shift to low beam.

The sensor, which is fitted in the windshield, can sense light from a distance of 80 to 100 metres, following which the operation takes place.

The device, priced at Rs 4,000, will be available at the company’s regional office at Sarusajai and the district transport office at Lokhra from tomorrow.

“Over five lakh accidents take place in the country. Of the 41 per cent are road mishaps during night, 18 per cent is caused by vehicle headlight glare. So, if we can reduce even half of this through devices such as this, we can meet our mission of reducing the rate to three lakh by 2016,” Sharma, who is a scientist (road safety devices), said here today. Rules 106 (C) and 106 (D) of the CMV Rules 1989 have provisions for the device while it has been defined as an essential safety device in section 110 of the CMV Act, 1998.

“The rules have not been strictly implemented in the country so far. So, we wish to start from Assam and make it the first to implement mandatory installation of the essential safety device in all vehicles,” he added.

State transport commissioner Beni Madhab Doley, while appreciating the initiative, said the device would help reduce the rate of accidents at night.

“The rate of mishaps during the night on highways like National Highway 37 is very high, and often the accidents take place because of high beam driving and not using the manual dipper. So, this device will take care of any such negligence and help save lives,” Doley said. The transport department this year, the official said, has accorded top priority to road safety.

“We have started awareness drives in schools and launched road safety campaigns from time to time. In January, we plan to organise a road safety week. We will be procuring more breath analysers and traffic interceptors (a device used to rein in high-speed drivers). Besides, the department through a notification issued recently, has prohibited parking on highways to minimise accidents,” he added.