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Traffic police make their point... ever so subtly

Staff Reporter

Nataraj launches road safety campaign in the city

THE LONG VIEW: City Police Commissioner R. Nataraj releases the first poster to promote road safety. Deputy Commissioner (Traffic) Mahesh Agarwal (left) and Joint Commissioner (Traffic) K.C Mahali are also seen. — Photo: M. Vedhan

CHENNAI: A picture of a rear-view mirror reflecting a graveyard. And the message "Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear". The succinct point about road safety that Chennai City Traffic Police are making is the first in their six-month campaign.

Police Commissioner R. Nataraj launched the "Message of the Month" at the traffic police headquarters here on Thursday.

Mr. Nataraj said that in the past six months, over 25,000 people had been booked for rash or drunken driving. The number of deaths due to road accidents decreased (246 from January to June). About 40 per cent of these involved two-wheelers. The police were also cracking down on "triple-riding" on two-wheelers.

The closed-circuit cameras at eight junctions had proved to be very effective as 500 people were caught violating traffic rules every month.

When a reporter asked him about corrupt officers who booked people to get bribes, he said, "We are trying to get rid of the problem. Our objective is not to block traffic but facilitate free flow."

Footboard travelling on MTC buses remained a big problem. Mr. Nataraj said they had noticed this happening mainly in Anna Nagar, Rajamangalam and surrounding areas.

This might be because there were not enough buses there, an issue they would take up with MTC authorities.

Mr. Nataraj said commuters should give way for an ambulance with its siren blaring. As many of the speed-breakers proved to be very high, they plan to replace them with rumblers.

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