Road Safety Hackathon 2026: The Road Safety Hackathon 2026 has been announced by the Center of Excellence for Road Safety at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras and RBG Labs, which continues its focus on the theme “AI in Road Safety”. The initiative builds on earlier editions and aims to enhance the role of artificial intelligence in addressing road safety concerns across India.The hackathon was officially launched at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, which included road safety in the country’s broader AI transformation agenda. Organizers said the program seeks to encourage practical, scalable and data-driven solutions that can be adopted in governance and enforcement systems.Problem Statements and Solution PathsParticipants are required to select one of three problem statements: DriveLegal, RoadWatch and RoadSoS. DriveLegal is designed to provide specific information on traffic laws, violations and penalty schedules by combining national, state and local regulations to improve compliance.Roadwatch focuses on empowering citizens to monitor road conditions, track public spending on infrastructure and report problems to authorities, promoting transparency and accountability. RoadSOS provides location-based access to trauma centers, ambulance services, vehicle rescue support, police stations and emergency contacts during accidents to reduce response time.• Direct Link to Apply Online for IITM AI Road Safety Hackathon 2026Eligibility and participation structureThe contest is open to students, engineers and technology enthusiasts, with a minimum age of 15 years. No professional qualifications are necessary. Participants may register individually or in teams, there is no restriction on team size.Each participant or team can submit one entry through the one-stop platform and should choose only one of the three problem statements. Submissions should include code in any programming language, a seven-slide presentation including a “Welcome” and “Thank You”, and a document detailing the software packages and assumptions.Selection process and awardsShortlisted teams will be invited to present their solutions to a live jury at the IITM campus, the schedules of which will be shared with the qualifying participants. The winning teams will be awarded cash prizes of Rs 50,000, Rs 30,000 and Rs 20,000 for the first, second and third positions respectively.All participants who complete Stage 1 submissions will receive certificates of participation, and selected individuals may be considered for internship or employment opportunities.Timeline and RegistrationRegistrations opened on 11 March 2026 and will close on 15 April 2026, while submissions are due by 31 May 2026. Admissions are exclusively accepted through the Instop platform for all applicants.
