CHENNAI: A week into their Zero Accident Day (ZAD) campaign, Greater Chennai Traffic Police managed to achieve their desired goal of recording zero road accident deaths on Sunday. The traffic police have launched the 20-day mega awareness campaign on August 6 to ensure that no road accidents occur on August 26.
This was officially posted by traffic police and R Sudhakar, additional commissioner (traffic), Chennai police on social media platform ‘X’. “Thank you Chennai, you did it! Let’s keep this momentum going by staying responsible and mindful on the roads. Together, we can continue working towards Zero Accidents every day,” Sudhakar said in his post.
The city records around 40-50 fatal accidents every month (at least one a day) and around 4-5 non-fatal accidents a day. Bringing fatal accidents down to zero by August 26, the culminating day of the ZAD campaign, was the goal. “This motivates us in a big way,” Sudhakar said. The campaign, first of its kind for a city in the country, was kicked off on August 6 at the MTC’s depot on Pallavaram road and has covered e-commerce delivery personnel and school children so far.
Everyone is being urged to follow traffic rules, avoid using phones while driving or drive under influence of alcohol, wear helmets and seatbelts to ensure that Chennai can achieve the target. The initiative will also feature events like ‘No Tolerance’ junctions, flashmobs, helmet compliance day and no-cell phone driving day.