In order to create awareness about traffic rules and regulations, and also provide road safety training, to schoolchildren, the Road Transport authorities of Karimnagar district have proposed a Telangana Traffic Training Institute for Children on its premises at Thimmapur on the outskirts of Karimnagar town.
Stated to be the first-of-its-kind in Telangana, the transport authorities have decided to develop the traffic training institute in a sprawling two-acre campus at a cost of Rs. 50 lakh, which would be funded by the State government and philanthropists. The authorities have proposed to design a layout resembling a small town with streets, walkways, tax lay-byes, traffic signals, buildings, foot-over bridges, narrow bridge, manned and unmanned railway crossing, etc. It would also have a children’s park with all playing equipment. The institute would train students as pedestrians, bicycle riders, and motorised toy car drivers to educate them so that they follow traffic rules and regulations. There would be test tracks and the children would be trained by retired traffic experts. The institute would have 20 to 30 toy cars and 50 to 60 cycles as well.
Speaking to The Hindu , Road Transport Officer and in-charge Deputy Transport Commissioner M.G. Vinod Kumar said that they have proposed the traffic training centre for children as traffic safety education was not part of the formal curriculum taught in schools. The training centre would provide complete education on traffic and road safety so that the children remember them for life, he said.
For the effective functioning of the Traffic Training Institute for Children, they constituted and registered a society with 12 members from the Transport Department, Education Department, Police, Private Schools Management Association, NGOs, and other organisations. The society would ensure that students were trained regularly at the Institute in a phased manner covering all the schools in the district.
Stating that they were planning to lay foundation stone for the construction of the institute in August, the RTO said they would train at least 324 students per day and cover 1.18 lakh students per annum. He said that they would conduct various tests after training them.
