GUNTUR: DGP M Malakondaiah has said a whopping five lakh road accidents take place in the country in which 1.5 lakh people die every year and 5 lakh persons are getting injured.Speaking during 29th National Road Safety Week celebrations at Mangalagiri mandal in Guntur district on Monday, he called upon the Police Department, Transport, NHAI, Medical and Health Departments to make concerted efforts to make the road travel safe so that the number of deaths in the accidents come down to half.
The DGP said the government has accorded highest priority in reducing the number of accidents and checking deaths on the road. He said due to accidents, families are broken apart. The future of young people is dashed. Road accidents have become the leading cause of death for people aged 15 to 29. Urban SP Ch Vijaya Rao, Rural SP Ch V Appala Naidu, Amaravati NHAI project director Dr. T Srinivas, Krishna District Lorry Owners Association general secretary Eswara Rao and others participated in the event.
Motorists urged to wear helmets
“Wear helmets. For your own safety,” with this message, a group of traffic police personnel, wearing head-gear, drove their two-wheelers connecting various stretches in the city on Monday.District collector K Sasidhar flagged off the bike rally marking the 29th National Road Safety Week at Zilla Parishad here. Speaking on the occasion, he said that instead of just imposing fine on erring violators, they proposed to educate and create awareness on the safety aspects of wearing helmets.
“The accident-prone stretches have been identified. Preventive measures to reduce speed have been taken and sign boards are displayed,” he said. The collector felicitated APSRTC driver Sk Meera for meritorious service.APSRTC and Transport department conducted awareness campaigns in Guntur. Joint collector A Md Imtiyaz, ZP chairperson Sk Johnnymoon, Transport department deputy commissioner GC Rajaratnam, RM G Srihari, and others were present.