Sounding concerned over the fact that the numbers of casualties in road mishaps in the State is eight times more than the casualties in criminal activities, State Director General of Police MA Ganapathy said the police have have planned a slew of road safety and traffic rules awareness programmes in all the 13 districts of the State to mark the 28th road safety week that started on Monday. He was addressing a gathering at the Survey of India auditorium after he flagged off a cycle rally held to mark the start of the road safety week.
However, in the same breath, he said that the public awareness programmes launched throughout 2016 had paid dividends with the casualty figures having come down compared to the figures of 2015. “However, the situation is still grave and there is no room for self-complacency. We would continue to mount offensive against the menace. We are stressing on the students being sensitised over the imperative of complying with the traffic rules. Besides, practical training about the same would be imparted at the crossings by traffic police,” the state DGP said.
Dehradun senior superintendent of police, Sweety Aggarwal said that both, the rider of a two-wheeler and the pillion rider must wear helmets for their own safety. “We are going to be launching various programmes targeting particularly the youth and the students as part of the road safety week to create awareness for the compliance of the traffic rules,” she said. On the occasion, oath on observance of traffic rules was taken by the police with 11 traffic police officers being awarded by the DGP for their exceptional work in the field. Apart from this, an informational documentary on road safety was also screened for the general people on the occasion.