About 70 percent of the people, dying in road accidents in Punjab, are between 18 and 45 years of age, said the state Transport Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar on Tuesday while quoting the ‘Punjab Road Accident Report-2021’.
Bhullar, participating in the closing ceremony of Road Safety Week organized at the Government Senior Secondary School in Mohali, said that as per the report, 13 people are losing their lives daily in road accidents in the state; and 70 percent of them, die in these road accidents, are between 18 and 45 years of age.
“The only effective practice to prevent road accidents is following the traffic rules. It is our collective responsibility to adhere to the traffic rules,” said the Minister while insisting that the process of sensitizing children about traffic rules should start at the school level itself so that they can be fully aware of traffic rules by the time they become adults.
Bhullar, addressing the students during the event, said that besides providing good means of transport for the convenience of the public, the Government has also been stressing on sensitizing people about road safety.
He said that the road safety week should not be confined to only a week, but it should be made part of everyday life and should be observed jointly by the various departments of the Punjab Government with the same enthusiasm so that people could be made fully aware of road safety rules.
The Minister said that CCTV cameras will be installed at all major junctions of Punjab very soon. “CCTV cameras are being installed so that traffic can be monitored properly,” he added.
The state’s Principal Secretary (Transport) Vikas Garg, while emphasizing the importance to fasten the seat belt even on the rear seat of the car, said that Cyrus Mistry, a famous person of the country, died just because he did not wear a rear seat belt.
Director General Lead Agency R Venkat Ratnam forbade students from riding three on two-wheelers. He asked students to ensure compliance with traffic rules, and also advised them to prefer public transport to come to school instead of private vehicles.