Andhra Pradesh State Transport Commissioner Sanjay Kumar has said it is important to keep pace with the changing technology to bring down the number of road accidents.
Addressing a meeting of lorry owners and heavy vehicle drivers, organised by the Krishna District Lorry Owners Association (KDLOA) here on Thursday, to mark valediction of refresher training to 5,000 heavy vehicle drivers at the Model Driving Training Institute & Research Centre at Ampapuram, Mr. Sanjay Kumar pointed to the fact that the State had earned the dubious distinction of being in the second place in the country in terms of the number of road accidents.
“Almost 80 per cent of the road accidents occur due to human error, drunken driving being a major cause. Drivers made to work in continuous shifts without any rest is yet another cause of concern. Overloading of trucks has also been contributing to the alarming rise in the number of road accidents,” he said.
Ninety per cent of the accidents involving lorries were due to overloading. “People in Andhra Pradesh have a very poor traffic sense. Road rage is commonplace here. We need to do some soul-searching followed by strict adherence to the set of road safety rules to improve the scenario,” he said.
Krishna District Deputy Commissioner of Transport A. Mohan said that 750 people were killed in road accidents in Krishna district last year and of them, 350 died on city roads.
He said that widening of the highways had led to an increased number of deaths in road accidents due to over speed.
Vijayawada City Deputy Commissioner of Police A.S. Khan said that among drivers of heavy vehicles a sense of discipline must be inculcated.
Main causes
Listing the main causes of road accidents, he said that availability of liquor shops along national highways and drivers’ association with sex workers was a major cause of concern. Stressing on the need for infusing a sense of morality in them, he said that self-discipline was the best way to lead an honest and dignified life.
He also mooted the idea of inducting women drivers by the AP State Road Transport Corporation.
“Western countries have a good number of women drivers manoeuvring the wheels, we can emulate them,” he said.
Joint Transport Commissioner B. Venkateswarlu and others were also present.
