Traffic authorities spread awareness on road safety in J-K

Traffic police in Jammu and Kashmir organised a rally over the weekend to mark Road Safety Week in order to spread awareness about observing traffic rules and regulations by residents.

India has the one of world's deadliest accident rates due to the presence of untrained drivers, inadequate law enforcement, badly maintained highways and cars that fail modern crash tests.

The week-long awareness rally by traffic authorities concluded on Saturday with various programmes including walkathon, road shows and seminars. Many hoardings and banners were also put up that read 'Safety is just not a slogan, it is a way of life' which was also the theme of this year's Road Safety Week.

"We conducted street shows, involved young students, organised a walkathon and placed banners at places with only one motive that the common man must follow traffic rules strictly and make it part of life because this can ensure their safety and security," said Srinagar's Senior Superintendent of Police (Traffic) Hasseb-ur-Rehman.

In a nation of new drivers, much of the road etiquette has come from how people walk. Drivers seize any space in front of them and tailgate whenever possible. On the highway, if drivers miss a turn, they stop, back up and try again.

Kashmir Valley residents expressed satisfaction at the initiative taken by the authorities that concerned people's safety. But they also expressed concern at the low maintenance of roads.

"The streets in Kashmir are over populated because of which traffic is rising. Traffic related problems are increasing. The traffic police are unable to do anything because the number of vehicles is also on rise. First the roads need to be repaired and parking and traffic rules need to be spread among the citizens," said a resident, Tariq Ahmad.

Alarmed by the increasing fatalities, the new government has begun a five-year project to cut road deaths by a fifth every year, part of the most ambitious overhaul of highway laws since independence in 1947. About 1.2 million Indians were killed in car accidents over the past decade, on average one every four minutes, while 5.5 million were seriously injured.

While road deaths in many emerging markets have dipped even as vehicle sales rose, Indian fatalities have shot up by half in the last 10 years. The government is proposing a drastic increase in fines and prison sentences for dangerous driving.

It will create an authority with a sole focus on road safety, impose stricter regulations on car manufacturers, and employ technology, such as automated driving tests, to cut down on corruption.