The Indian Institute of Technology Madras’ (IIT Madras) Centre of Excellence for Road Safety (CoERS) introduces ‘ThinnAI’, a personalised Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled trainer designed to enhance driver readiness and strengthen road safety in India. 

The platform was introduced on Monday (16th Feb 2026) at AI for Road Safety session in India AI Impact Summit 2026 being held in Delhi.

By moving beyond rote memorisation and focusing on practical skills, ThinnAI aims to address longstanding challenges in driver licensing systems, which contribute to India’s high number of road fatalities estimated at around 1.7 lakh annually. 

ThinnAI seeks to improve pre-licensing education by assessing aspiring drivers’ knowledge of traffic signs, road rules, motor vehicles, cognitive abilities and physical readiness through multi-level, video game-like tests with zero human intervention. The platform is designed to prepare first-time drivers even before they obtain their Learner’s License.

The AI for Road Safety session at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 brought together young student innovators, global AI leaders, policymakers, researchers, startups and industry stakeholders to explore responsible and inclusive applications of artificial intelligence across various aspects of road safety.

Prof. Venkatesh Balasubramanian, Head, CoERS, IIT Madras, led with an engaging session highlighting the critical role of Human Factors in AI. This was a key enabler within his “5E” Model for Road Safety (Engineering, Enforcement, Emergency Care, Education, and Empathy). He shared valuable insights on how AI can be used to build on the foundational data, programs and tools such as Sanjaya, RATH that was designed to improve road safety governance

Key highlights included the introduction of two groundbreaking initiatives by CoERS, IIT Madras – ‘RATH’ an AI Enabled Data-Driven Governance platform for road safety stakeholders and citizens, and ‘ThinnAI’ - a personalized AI enabled driver training platform. 

Highlighting the unique aspects of ‘ThinnAI, Prof. Venkatesh Balasubramanian, also a Faculty in the Department of Engineering Design, IIT Madras, said, “Behavioural disciple forms with habit. When a habit is formed by controlled learning, then outcomes are better. Driving has to be learned, and the process of driving should become a habit.” 

Prof. Venkatesh Balasubramanian added, “Driving requires higher-order cognitive abilities such as risk perception, situational awareness, sound judgement and etiquette to be safe drivers on the shared asset called road. This is the essence of the 1st Gate of knowledge in the 3 Gate Licensing model that we advocate. Designed for first-time drivers even before they receive their Learner’s License, ThinnAI addressed this gap by building awareness, judgement, and responsibility, not just helping someone pass a test. By combining behavioural science, adaptive learning and artificial intelligence, ThinnAI is redefining driver education. This adaptive learning platform helps building not just licensed drivers, but responsible road users.”

Commending the efforts of CoERS, IIT Madras, Shri Pankaj Agarwal, Chief Engineer, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), Government of India, said, “Driving and road safety as a life skill should be part of school and college curriculum. The developed application ThinnAI will be a great enabler for all stakeholders to have prepared young minds on the road.” 

The summit also witnessed the launch of the Road Safety Hackathon 2026, one of the biggest road safety hackathons for Global South aimed at encouraging students to develop hyperlocal interventions and tools for AI-driven governance.

Sharing insights during a Fireside Chat on ‘Policies Enabling Innovation in Road Safety,’ Shri Pankaj Agarwal, Chief Engineer, MoRTH, stated, “AI goes beyond enhancing enforcement; it's essential for prevention, education, and fostering a safety-conscious culture on Indian roads. Through the Data-Driven Hyperlocal Interventions (DDHI) program of MoRTH and CoERS, the local perception of crashes is being captured in the Field Perception Survey. This provides a focus on monitoring the vulnerable areas in the high-speed corridors. AI-enabled behavioural feedback systems for all transport modes remain a critical gap, which we're addressing through Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communications to deliver real-time alerts to drivers.” 

Shri RP Shukla, Director, Road Safety Cell, MoRTH, emphasized the role of youth through ‘Sadak Suraksha Mitra’ program, a joint initiative by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and MoRTH. 

Urging students to be part of India's largest youth-led road safety revolution, Mr. RP Shukla said, “Technology alone is not enough, we need human empathy. Adopting a bottom-Up approach, our local youth as volunteers are being trained to bring the GenZ perspective to road safety challenges, learn road safety auditing, assist District Road Safety Committees (DRSC) and become the future advocates, auditors and influencers.”

Amid India's staggering 1.7 lakh annual road fatalities, initiatives like ThinnAI, RATH, DDHI, and the youth-led Sadak Suraksha Mitra herald a bold, multi-pronged revolution in AI-driven road safety. CoERS, IIT Madras' AI for Road Safety platform empowers young innovators with unprecedented opportunities to co-create human-cantered AI solutions bridging data gaps, revolutionizing policy governance, driver training, and igniting behavioural change to accelerate India's journey toward safer roads and Viksit Bharat 2047.

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