IIT Madras Road Safety Hackathon 2026 Calls for AI Solutions

India's road safety crisis has a new generation of problem-solvers stepping up to address it. The Centre of Excellence for Road Safety (CoERS) and RBG Labs at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras have launched the Road Safety Hackathon 2026 — one of the most significant AI-focused road safety competitions in the Global South. Running from March 11 to May 31, 2026, the hackathon invites students, engineers, researchers, and technology enthusiasts aged 15 and above to develop scalable, implementation-ready solutions that harness artificial intelligence to save lives on India's roads.

Overview of the Road Safety Hackathon 2026

Building on Previous Editions With a Sharper AI Focus

The Road Safety Hackathon 2026 builds on the strong foundation laid by previous editions at IIT Madras, continuing and deepening the transformative theme of AI in Road Safety. The 2026 edition reflects a maturing understanding of what technology can deliver for road safety — moving beyond theoretical innovation toward solutions that are evidence-based, scalable, and genuinely ready for integration into real-world governance frameworks.

The hackathon was officially launched at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, a decision that signals its positioning within India's broader AI transformation agenda rather than as a niche academic exercise. By launching at one of India's most significant AI policy forums, CoERS and IIT Madras communicated a clear message: road safety is a national AI priority, and the solutions developed through this hackathon are expected to contribute meaningfully to India's data-driven mobility governance ecosystem.

The 2026 edition calls for solutions that leverage artificial intelligence, data analytics, computer vision, predictive modelling, and intelligent enforcement systems to address the road safety challenges that continue to claim approximately 1.7 lakh lives in India every year. Participants are not being asked to theorise — they are being challenged to build.

Three Problem Statements — DriveLegal, RoadWatch and RoadSoS

Real-World Challenges Demanding Practical AI Solutions

The hackathon is structured around three distinct problem statements, each addressing a critical dimension of India's road safety ecosystem. Participants must choose one of these three challenges and develop their solution accordingly.

DriveLegal — Making Traffic Law Accessible and Actionable

DriveLegal addresses one of the most persistent but underappreciated contributors to road accidents in India: the widespread lack of awareness among road users about the specific traffic laws, violation categories, and fine schedules that apply to them in their location. India's traffic regulations are a complex patchwork of national rules, state-specific provisions, and local enforcement priorities — a landscape that most road users navigate without adequate information.

The DriveLegal challenge asks participants to build a platform that provides location-specific, real-time information on traffic laws, violations, and fine schedules — integrating national regulations with state and local enforcement rules to help road users understand their legal obligations and improve compliance. A well-designed DriveLegal solution could transform the relationship between citizens and traffic law from one of ignorance and fear to one of informed, voluntary compliance.

RoadWatch — Citizen-Powered Road Infrastructure Accountability

RoadWatch tackles the infrastructure dimension of road safety — specifically, the persistent gap between the condition of India's roads and the information available to citizens and authorities about that condition. Poor road maintenance, pothole-riddled surfaces, and inadequate infrastructure are directly linked to a substantial proportion of road accidents in India, yet the systems for monitoring and reporting these deficiencies remain underdeveloped.

The RoadWatch challenge asks participants to build a platform that enables citizens to monitor road quality, track public spending on road infrastructure, and report deficiencies directly to responsible authorities. A successful RoadWatch solution would promote transparency, strengthen accountability, and harness the collective observational power of millions of road users to improve the infrastructure conditions that determine whether journeys are safe or dangerous.

RoadSoS — Faster Emergency Response to Save Lives in the Golden Hour

RoadSoS addresses what road safety experts consistently identify as one of the most critical and most neglected dimensions of India's road accident crisis: emergency response. The golden hour following a road accident — the window during which timely medical intervention can make the difference between life and death — is frequently lost in India due to inadequate awareness of nearby trauma centres, delayed ambulance dispatch, and confused emergency communication.

The RoadSoS challenge asks participants to build a location-based emergency assistance platform that provides accident victims and bystanders with immediate access to nearby trauma centres, ambulance services, vehicle rescue services, police stations, and emergency contacts. A well-executed RoadSoS solution could directly reduce mortality from road accidents by dramatically shortening the time between an accident occurring and life-saving medical assistance arriving.

Eligibility Criteria and Team Composition Rules

Open to All Ages 15 and Above — No Professional Qualifications Required

The Road Safety Hackathon 2026 is designed to be broadly accessible. Participation is open to students, engineers, and technology enthusiasts with an interest in building ethical and impactful technology solutions — no professional qualifications or prior hackathon experience is required. The minimum age for participation is 15 years, making the competition accessible to motivated secondary school students as well as undergraduates, postgraduates, and early-career professionals.

Team composition is flexible and inclusive. Participants may register individually or as a team of any size — there is no upper limit on team membership, allowing large interdisciplinary groups to collaborate on comprehensive solutions. This flexibility reflects an understanding that road safety solutions benefit from diverse expertise — combining technical skills in AI and software development with domain knowledge in traffic engineering, public health, governance, and user experience design.

Two-Stage Competition Format and Submission Guidelines

Stage One — Online Submission

In the first stage, participants submit their solutions digitally through the Unstop platform — the only accepted channel for registrations and submissions. The submission package must include the complete solution code, written in any programming language of the participant's choice, along with a seven-slide presentation covering a welcome slide, solution explanation, and a closing slide. Participants must also submit a detailed word document containing the full code, a list of software packages used, and the assumptions underlying their solution.

Each participant or team may make only one submission, and that submission must address only one of the three problem statements — DriveLegal, RoadWatch, or RoadSoS. This constraint ensures that participants invest their efforts in developing one well-considered, thoroughly executed solution rather than spreading attention across multiple challenges.

Stage Two — Live Jury Presentation at IIT Madras

Teams shortlisted from Stage One will be invited to present their solutions to a live jury at the IIT Madras campus. The exact date and schedule for Stage Two presentations will be communicated directly to qualifying teams. This in-person jury stage allows participants to demonstrate their solutions interactively, respond to expert questions, and make the case for their solution's real-world applicability and scalability.

Prizes, Certificates and Career Opportunities

Significant Financial Rewards and Professional Recognition

The Road Safety Hackathon 2026 offers a compelling prize structure for winning teams. The first prize is Rs 50,000, the second prize is Rs 30,000, and the third prize is Rs 20,000 — rewards that reflect the seriousness and ambition of the competition and provide meaningful recognition for the effort and innovation that top solutions represent.

Beyond cash prizes, all participants who successfully complete Stage One and submit valid entries will receive a participation certificate — a credential that carries the institutional weight of IIT Madras and CoERS, and that demonstrates engagement with one of India's most significant applied AI challenges. Selected participants may additionally receive internship or job opportunities, creating pathways for the most talented innovators to continue working on road safety technology beyond the competition itself.

Competition Timeline and How to Register

Key Dates and Registration Information

The Road Safety Hackathon 2026 runs across a structured timeline that gives participants adequate time to develop genuinely impactful solutions. Registrations opened on March 11, 2026, and the registration deadline is April 15, 2026. The submission deadline for Stage One solutions is May 31, 2026 — giving registered participants approximately six weeks from the registration close to develop, refine, and submit their solutions.

Registration and all submissions are handled exclusively through the Unstop platform at the official hackathon link. Prospective participants are encouraged to register early and familiarise themselves with the three problem statements before committing to a challenge theme.