Students must form street/community groups to strengthen security in their area and alert police about movement of strangers, according to Deputy Commissioner of Police S. Arumugasamy.
At an awareness meeting held at Yadhava Women College on road safety and crime prevention, he said students should exert peer pressure on fellow students to follow traffic rules. "You should insist that your friends, siblings, relatives and those living around you wear helmet while riding bikes and wear seat belts while driving cars to ensure their safety."
Similarly, they and their family members should ensure that their dear ones, while returning home late in the night, were not drunk. "These small behavourial changes will bring huge benefits to the family and community in ensuring safe riding/driving and prevent loss of lives," Mr. Arumugasamy said.
He recalled that several families had suffered huge blows when the bread-winners were lost in road accidents.
Stating that students complained about crowded buses to justify foot-board travel in buses, he said instead they should develop the habit of starting early from home to avoid peak hour traffic.
On women's safety, he said it was the duty of every individual to ensure the safety of the women around them.
Students could organise small groups to take up works such as filling potholes and complaining about faulty street lights to authorities concerned. A well-lit street would reduce crime at night. Similarly, people should come forward to put up closed circuit television cameras to check movement of strangers.
"Students should get the personal phone number of local police officials and alert them immediately upon sighting suspects in their area in order to prevent crime," Mr. Arumugasamy added.
