How do you convince Bengaluru’s social media savvy citizens to take skywalks instead of jaywalking? The city traffic police have come up with a novel idea of a selfie contest in which pedestrians are encouraged to click a picture of themselves on the skywalk. Naturally, the selfie with the most number of shares wins.
The traffic police also said that the best selfie with the maximum number of shares with hashtags #selfieonskywalk and #besafe would get a certificate and a memento by senior police officials. The contest began on Friday and will run till April 7 and the police, with the help of a city-based film production unit, will monitor the posts and select the winner on various social media websites.
Over 50% of the total number of accidents in the city involved pedestrians, said Abhishek Goel, Deputy Commissioner of Police (East, Traffic), who launched the competition on Friday. By using skywalks, the number of accidents could be minimised drastically, he said.
“The idea is to not only encourage people to use skywalks but also to create awareness among their circle of friends,” Mr. Goel said.
Former Indian cricketer and ace bowler Venkatesh Prasad kicked off the campaign by posting the first ‘selfie on a skywalk’.
However, city-based traffic expert M.N. Sreehari was critical about the contest stating that the traffic police should have come up with something helpful for pedestrians, especially senior citizens.
“On the one hand, the traffic police create awareness about not using phones while on the road, and on the other they throw open a contest and challeng people to click a selfie while using skywalks,” he said.
As far as skywalks are concerned, the BBMP should put up escalators and lifts to help people use them, he said.
Rajalakshmi, a retired professor from Basavanagudi, echoed Prof. Sreehari’s concern stating that the traffic police should also consider the plight of senior citizens. “We are also pedestrians and most of the time we have no other option but to cross the road. We cannot take the skywalk as it looks like a herculean task to climb up and down,” she said.
