Need to educate people regarding traffic rules stressed

The district administration’s Road Safety Committee and the Integrated Command and Control Centre of the traffic department play a major role in making people follow traffic rules, said Deputy Commissioner Dr Rajendra K V.

He was speaking during the inauguration of a divisional-level consultation on generating demand for effective implementation of Motor Vehicles Act, 2019, organised by Public Affairs Foundation (PAF), Bengaluru, and Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS International), Jaipur, at Goldfinch Hotel in Mangaluru, on Wednesday.

The deputy commissioner said that the CCTV monitoring of traffic movement has been increased as a part of the implementation of the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019.

“Drivers need to be educated on following lane discipline and the pedestrians should be prevented from crossing the roads where they are not supposed to,” he added.

The deputy commissioner noted that in Mangaluru, buses need to move in a separate lane from Clock Tower to AB Shetty Circle, which has now been converted into a six-lane road.

But, the buses are seen violating the lane discipline more often. Also, private buildings have been using roads as parking spaces, leading to congestion on the roads, he added.

Opining that traffic rules and road safety should be made part of the school curriculum, Dr Rajendra K V said an awareness programme will be held for high school students in January 2022, as a part of Road Safety Week.

The deputy commissioner, who is also the member secretary of the District Road Safety Committee meetings, said a series of meetings will be held with stakeholders towards making the roads safe for vehicle users and pedestrians.

In her keynote address, Public Affairs Foundation, Bengaluru, Executive Director Dr Annapoorna Ravichander said that the key mandate of the organisation is to engage with the community, in terms of capacity building among government officials, individuals and local bodies.

The people are made aware of the need to voice their issues on the right platform. Also, light is thrown on the related laws, she added.

CUTS International Director George Cheriyan said that on average, five lakh road accidents are reported from India and 1.5 lakh lives are lost in road accidents.

As many as 70% of the accidents occur due to over-speeding and almost 50% of the people who lose their lives in road accidents are between the age of 18 to 35 years, he said.

In Karnataka, 10,990 lives were lost in road accidents in 2018 and there were 10,958 deaths in 2019. The state has also recorded the highest number of pedestrian deaths, George said and felt there is a need to implement the laws effectively.