The city traffic police wing in association with the Student Police Cadets (SPC), on Monday, launched a two-week long traffic awareness campaign among school students in the city on road safety and the responsibility to abide by traffic regulations. This is part of the ‘Shubha Yatra’ traffic campaign of the police department.
The campaign will initially cover 70 selected educational institutions in city limits. A special vehicle has been arranged by the Traffic Police wing to roam around schools spreading the message of traffic safety. Posters and banners stressing the importance of traffic safety will be displayed in the special bus.
Each day, the vehicle carrying the necessary campaign materials will cover the selected schools. Each school will spend two hours exclusively for this programme.
“For sensitising students, we have prepared 73 exclusive posters. Along with this, we will be carrying out a separate campaign on the need to abstain from tobacco use and other narcotic substances,” says C. Aravindakshan, Sub-Inspector from the city traffic unit who coordinates the SPC project in the region. He also adds that the programme is being operated by the student police cadets and the police are just giving technical support.
The decision to conduct a comprehensive awareness campaign was taken after holding special meetings with the heads of various educational institutions in the city. Also, the increasing student population in the city has persuaded the traffic police to take up more awareness programmes for them.
“In our city, we have found that the students are least interested in making use of the zebra lines to cross the road. Similarly, no one is taking note of the rule to walk on the right side of the road,” says Mr. Aravindakshan. .
To make the programme lively to students, Pappu Zebra, the official campaign mascot of the Kerala police, too will join the programme. The awareness drive will draw to a close in the city on October 21.
