The State Highways Department has installed a sensor-based safety system at a hairpin bend on Valparai ghat road to alert vehicle drivers using the road
An official of the Department told The Hindu that the system installed at the fifth hairpin bend uses solar energy, sensors, and a display board. “We worked on it for about 10 months and installed the system on Friday. If it is useful, the system will be installed at all the 40 hairpin bends,” said the official.
The Pollachi-Valparai road, which runs for 64 km and has 40 hairpin bends, was inaugurated in 1903. The road is narrow, has sharp bends and deep valley sides. Visibility of vehicles coming in the opposite direction at the hairpin bends is not much and hence there are risks of accidents. The system has been developed to warn the vehicles of those coming in the opposite direction at the bends.
The official said two systems were placed at the bend to warn drivers of vehicles coming in both the directions. Each system has four sensors and a display board that are powered by solar energy. When a vehicle passes within five feet of the sensor, it displays a warning message on the board and gives warning blinks. This alerts the driver of the vehicle coming in the opposite direction to slow down, the official said.
Coimbatore Collector G.S. Sameeran had tweeted about the system.