To Minimise Road Accidents And Promote Safe Driving Culture, A Year-Long Road Safety Campaign Launched In Odisha’s Capital Bhubaneswar
The objective of this year-long campaign is to bring in a culture of compliance as far as road safety rules are concerned to reduce accidents
Highlights
- Road accidents in Odisha increased to 4,790 in 2017 from 4,463 in 2016
- Accidents occur as people are not aware of road safety rules: Odisha police
- To curb road fatalities, Odisha launched a year-long road safety campaign
New Delhi: Concerned about the increasing number of road accidents in Odisha, which shot up to about 4,790 in 2017 from 4,463 in 2016, the Commissionerate police on April 28 launched a year-long campaign to sensitise people about the five golden rules of road safety. The campaign, launched as part of the 29th Road Safety Week celebrations, aims to make people aware that it is the worst thing to die needlessly in a road accident – just because of over speeding, driving under the influence of intoxicants, and not wearing helmets and seat belts. Understanding that the modification and improvement of road user’s behavior takes time, the traffic department has designed this campaign for a year to bring in a culture of compliance to road safety rules to make the roads safer.
Launching of 5 Golden Rules of Road Safety by Commissionerate Police Bhubaneswar-Cuttack on the occasion of 29th National Road Safety Week on today i.e. 28.04.2018. pic.twitter.com/z9urjMNSpD
— COMMISSIONERATE (@bbsrctcpolice) April 28, 2018
While inaugurating the campaign, Asit Kumar Tripathy, Additional Chief Secretary, Home Department, Odisha said, “Accidents occur due to lack of awareness among people about the importance of road safety measures and how following these measures can help save their lives in case of an accident. This campaign will just do what is required… raising awareness on five golden rules on road safety.”
The year-long campaign will highlight five road safety measures – use of helmet by both rider and pillion, both driver and person on the front must wear seatbelt, not to drink and drive, not to drive above the speed limit, and not use mobile devices while driving.
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According to the Bhubaneswar traffic police department, they will pick one golden rule every fortnight and raise road safety awareness around it.
Talking about the road accident fatalities in the capital city, which has gone up to 185 as against 172 accidental deaths in 2016, Y B Khurania, Commissioner of Police, Bhubaneswar-Cuttack said, “Despite stringent enforcement of traffic laws, accidents occur because motorists are not aware of the traffic norms. And people who are educated about the traffic rules don’t follow it… they don’t wear seatbelts or helmets. We have launched this year-long campaign to make people aware about the benefits of following five golden road safety rules.”
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When asked about the improvements in traffic law enforcement that contributes to safer roads, an official from the city traffic police department said:
All traffic personnels, constables, along with the commissionerate police and officials from the Regional Transport Office (RTO) will work in sync to tighten the enforcement of road safety rules to rein in erring motorists. The focus of the police is now more on curbing offences such as rash and negligent driving, over speeding, riding a two-wheeler without a helmet, jumping the traffic lights, use of cellular phones while driving or riding, drunken driving and overloading.
He also informed that the state government is working to appoint more traffic constables to rein in rampant traffic road violations and accidents as there have been reports that lack of traffic personnel in Bhubaneswar’s accident prone black spots keeps citizens worried.
And to improve the road infrastructure, the state transport department will also work to identify the reason behind each accident that happens in the city and will then work around the problem to fix it. The department has requested all stakeholders to come forward in support of this road safety campaign. In addition to this, a web-based application is also being developed by the state transport department to gather information regarding road accidents occurring across the state. Named the Road Accident Management Information System (RAMIS), the application will be integrated with a mobile App to enable people to alert the department about accidents and track the police action.
