Students of Maharani College, Padmashree School of Public Health and health professionals formed a human chain from Freedom Park to K.R. Circle to mark World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims (WDR), which is observed on Sunday.
Under the banner of ‘Safer Roads Bengaluru’, the Institute of Public Health, in association with Maharani Cluster University, had organised an awareness program on Saturday, which saw the participation of people who had lost their loved ones in road accidents.
The organisers, in a press release, said that every year, about 1.5 lakh Indians die from road injuries while about five lakh sustain serious injuries. Karnataka accounts for the third-largest number of road injuries and the fourth-highest number of road traffic deaths in India.
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Asha Abikar, Deputy Director of State Road Safety Authority, said, “Bengaluru alone witnesses around 650 road traffic deaths every year. To safeguard the lives of road users, the government has recently amended the Motor Vehicle Act and increased the fine. People, especially youth, should follow traffic rules and become an asset for the nation.”
People shared their stories at the programme in Maharani College.
Kumaraswamy, who lost his 20-year-old daughter in a road accident, spoke about how negligence towards traffic rules claimed his daughter’s life and requested students to follow the rules.
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