The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : A wake-up call for road users

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Feb 21, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

A wake-up call for road users

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD, FEB. 20. Driver's error, lack of infrastructure and mechanical defects. These were identified as the three important factors contributing to road accidents at a meeting on road safety attended for the first time both by relatives of victims and drivers of accused vehicles organised by the Cyberabad police here at Saroornagar on Sunday.

Nearly hundred people who sustained serious injuries in road accidents, relatives of those who lost their lives and drivers of accused vehicles discussed whether it was possible to check mishaps. The Cyberabad police and the participants split themselves into teams to discuss the causes of accidents and suggest remedial measures.

They opined that proper road designing and re-alignment would help bring down the accident rate. Laying of road dividers and periodic checking of vehicle condition too would also minimise accidents. Need for educating road users on safety methods and coordination among various Government wings concerned was also emphasised.

The Ranga Reddy district Principal Sessions Judge, Raghavendra, observed that fear of harassment by the police seemed to be preventing people from alerting the police about road accidents. "Chances of survival are more if the victim is shifted to hospital at the earliest. But, a majority of citizens avoid going to the rescue of victims for fear of being dragged to court," he remarked.

Stating that infrastructure was equally important to check road accidents, the judge pointed out that authorities failed to make arrangements for people to cross the road at the ever busy Dilsukhnagar junction. The Director-General of Police, Swaranjit Sen, opined that accidents would come down if people realised that they too had a responsibility in the increasing number of mishaps.

He appealed to the public to use link roads instead of travelling only on trunk routes.

Major relief

The Cyberabad Police Commissioner, M. Mahender Reddy, announced that citizens who alert the police about road accidents or help the police in shifting victims to hospital would not be cited as witnesses if they did not want to give evidence in court. "We hope this will remove fear from the minds of people over rescuing victims and create a healthy trend," he said.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Andhra Pradesh