Slow down, a person lost her life here

The police launches a drive to educate motorists on safe driving; cracks the whip on errants

February 17, 2017 08:31 am | Updated 08:32 am IST - COIMBATORE

The yellow mark portrays a fatal accident spot on Podanur Road in Coimbatore.

The yellow mark portrays a fatal accident spot on Podanur Road in Coimbatore.

After a long gap, the police have re-launched the practice of marking fatal accident spots on road using yellow paint to make motorists more cautious while driving.

The former City Police Commissioner, K.C. Mahali, had brought in the practice of marking fatal accident spots. It was later discontinued.

Fatal

Traffic police officials said that the word ‘fatal’ will be marked on major accident spots in yellow paint instead of ‘304 A’ used earlier.

According to police officers, 34 spots have been marked ‘fatal’ in the city limits so far.

Ten fatal accidents spots have been marked based on the 10 deaths reported in February. According to police, sign boards cautioning accident prone zone areas were kept on some of the roads. Placing sign boards on National Highways requires certain criteria.

Speed breakers cannot be placed at accident spots on National Highways.

“This year, the police have decided to create an awareness on 304A cases. We hope that the road markings will create awareness among public on accident prone areas and they follow safe driving practices,” said S. Saravanan, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic).

In 2016, Coimbatore city had witnessed 1,377 accidents of which 574 were involving two-wheelers. Of the 241 fatal accidents witnessed in 2016, 177 were due to speeding.

According to police, congested roads and increase in vehicle population are also reasons for accidents in Coimbatore.

According to official records, one lakh vehicles are being registered every year in Coimbatore. As of now, Coimbatore has a total number of 13.71 lakh vehicles of which 10.35 lakh are two-wheelers.

Checks

In a move to prevent fatal accidents involving two-wheelers, the police have strengthened checking to find riders who do not wear helmets. The police said that 5,013 people between February 1 and February 15 this year for riding two-wheeler without wearing helmet.

A sum of Rs 5,01, 300 have been collected from the offenders as fine during the period. Coimbatore City Police Commissioner A. Amalraj said that stringent action will be initiated against those failing to wear helmet while riding a two-wheeler. A drive will be launched to curb the practice of using mobile phones while driving, and drunk driving, he added.

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