Checking the vehicle for possible mechanical faults, wearing the seat belt and switching off the mobile phone will go a long way in minimising accidents, Superintendent of Police (Visakhapatnam Rural) G. Srinivas told RTC drivers.
Participating as chief guest at the inaugural of the Road Safety Week celebrations at the Maddilapalem Depot here on Monday, he said that studies have revealed that ‘human errors’ as the most common cause of accidents. While commending the RTC for bringing down accidents to the bare minimum, he said that of late grave accidents involving buses were on the rise. He, however, said that a majority of these accidents involved private buses.
He reminded that drivers and conductors, like any other citizen, had a responsibility to inform the police when they notice anyone indulging in anti-social or criminal activity.
Executive Director of Vizianagaram Zone of RTC A. Ramakrishna and Regional Manager (Visakhapatnam Region) Y. Jagadeesh Babu spoke about the steps being taken by the corporation to minimise accidents by educating the drivers on various safety aspects and giving incentives of drivers who were rendering ‘accident-free’ service.
Medical examination
Mr. Jagadeesh Babu said that medical examination of drivers over 45 years of age, maintenance of buses, family counselling and felicitation of ‘best drivers’ would form part of the weeklong celebrations. He said that the RTC Vice-Chairman and Managing Director A.K. Khan had proposed granting of badges to drivers with the words “I am a safe driver’ printed on it to promote safety concept. Similarly, drivers of long distance buses would be encouraged to put their family photo in the driver’s cabin.
The ‘best drivers’ who had accident-free service – T.A. Naidu (Waltair Depot), Y.N. Rao (Simhachalam Depot) and MSA Rao (Gajuwaka Depot) were felicitated.
Deputy Chief Traffic Managers P. Jeevan Prasad (rural) and Veeraiah Choudhary (urban) and representatives of trade unions attended.
