Passengers in cars that passed by the head post office junction in the city on Thursday morning were in for a surprise when they were asked to pull over by the traffic police and were offered chocolates and flowers and requested to wear seatbelts.
Those who were wearing seatbelts were praised and offered chocolates, while others were requested to wear seatbelts and later given chocolates.
The exercise was for the seatbelt awareness programme that was jointly organized by Indian Red Cross Society, JCI, and Youth Exnora International. The event was inaugurated by A. Pandian, Regional Transport Officer, Srirangam, in the presence of G. Rajasekaran, Chairman, Indian Red Cross Society, Tiruchi district branch. “A majority of the persons travelling in cars do not wear seatbelts. Such programmes help in reinforcing the necessity of wearing a seatbelt as it helps in averting danger,” said T. Senthil Kumar, president. JCI Tiruchi. Children from Vasavi Vidyalaya and Swedish students on an exchange programme in the city, participated with gusto in the event and gave away pamphlets advocating the importance of seatbelts. Some children stood holding a picture banner that advised people to wear seatbelt at all times for their own safety. “All of us know that wearing a seatbelt is important, but we hardly wear it because of the discomfort. But today’s event helped us realise that bearing some discomfort is all right to prevent fatality during accidents,” said S. Aravind, a passerby.
