Bhubaneswar: The commissionerate police Saturday launched a year-long campaign, ‘5 golden rules of road safety’, at an event at its headquarters here. The campaign was conducted on the occasion of the ongoing 29th National Road Safety week. It was aimed at bringing awareness among the public about road safety.
Recently, the state government has revealed that in 2017 Odisha has witnessed a 14 per cent increase in fatalities due to road mishaps.
The five rules enumerated by the commissionerate police include:
1. Both the rider of a bike and the pillion rider must wear helmets
2. The driver and the person sitting in front in a four-wheeler must wear seat belts
3. Driving in a state of intoxication is prohibited
4. Driving at high speeds is a punishable offence
5. It is risky to use of mobile phones while driving
Violation of the said rules by drivers is the reason behind almost all cases of road accidents in the country. Asit Tripathy, additional chief secretary, Home department, who inaugurated the campaign, told media persons: “It is a unique initiative by the commissionerate police”, adding that the enforcement activities will be given more teeth in future.
“The enforcement process will be monitored by the traffic personnel, constables and traffic police stations. The commissionerate police along with RTO will tighten traffic safety rules in future,” he said.
He also informed that the state government will appoint 400 traffic constables to rein in rampant traffic road violations and accidents.
Speaking on the occasion, the transport secretary informed that the number of deaths in road accidents increased significantly in 2017 despite the Supreme Court directive to states to check road mishaps. He also revealed that Odisha was among the top five states in the country where most road accidents have been recorded.
Speaking to reporters, police chief YV Khurania said on the auspicious day of the birth anniversary of Utkal Gaurav Madhusudan Das, commisionerate police is kick-starting a novel road safety campaign. “As we are witnessing a huge number of casualties due to the increasing road mishaps in the state this campaign is meant to achieve an urgent goal,” he said. Enforcement of the rules has to go hand in hand with creation of public awareness, he added.
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