Human error is the single-largest cause for road accidents and it is high time all the stakeholders ensured safety through adherence to traffic rules, education, proper design of roads and enforcement, said speakers at the valedictory of ‘Arrive Alive’, the week-long programme on road safety here on Thursday.
Additional Director General of Police (Road Safety) Satyanarayan, who participated as chief guest, said that 80 per cent of road accidents were due to the fault of drivers. He appreciated the judiciary for imposing jail sentence on drunken drivers who were involved in crashes. He felt that only through such stern measures could drunken driving be checked. District Judge V. Venkata Prasad called upon parents not to send their children to school in overcrowded autorickshaws. He called upon RTC officials, who were present on the dais, to consider operation of special buses to schools during morning and evening hours.
Metropolitan Sessions Judge G.V. Krishnaiah said that non-provision of parking space in shopping complexes was leading to congestion on roads.
Chairman and Managing Director of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant A.P. Chowdary called for a multi-pronged approach to check road accidents.
Police Commissioner B. Shivadhar Reddy said that ‘defensive driving’ was the most important aspect of road safety. He said that a campaign on defensive driving would be conducted for a year to enhance driving skills of motorists. Deputy Inspector General (Visakhapatnam Range) Swati Lakra called upon the public to obey traffic rules all the time, irrespective of the presence of traffic police on the roads. Superintendent of Police (Visakhapatnam Rural) G. Srinivas hoped that the campaign, launched by the Police Commissioner, would become a movement for safety on the roads. He said that the District Police had extended it to Anakapalle and other places.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) P. Viswa Prasad said that the time had come for introspection. VUDA Vice Chairman N. Yuvaraj, Executive Director of APS RTC (Vizianagaram Zone) A. Ramakrishna and RTC Regional Manager Y. Jagadeesh Babu were among those who were on the dais.
A website: www.vizagtrafficpolice.com , developed by students of Millennium Software Solutions, was launched by the chief guest. RTC drivers who have put in 25 to 30 years of ‘accident-free’ service were felicitated on the occasion.
