KOCHI: A road safety authority will be constituted within a month in the State, Transport Minister Mathew T. Thomas has said.

He was speaking to mediapersons after the State-level inaugurating of the Students' Road Safety Club at Veli in Fort Kochi on Saturday.

Mr. Thomas said the Road Safety Council was not effective in checking accidents. "A road safety authority ordinance was promulgated six months ago. The authority will be a statutory body vested with powers to initiate action to prevent road accidents. A driving training institute will soon be set up in 25 acres owned by the KSRTC in Edappal to ensure that drivers are trained in good driving habits."

He said in his inaugural address that the Government would curb speeding of vehicles at any cost. "We will ensure that legislation is made to curb speeding. This is because tiny Kerala has the highest accident rate in the country. Around 4,000 people die each year in 51,000 road accidents in the State. Stern measures are on the anvil to check accidents. The driving licence of those who violate traffic rules repeatedly will be cancelled."

Referring to the arguments put forth by private bus owners on the speed governor issue, he said they went to the extent of arguing that road accidents were nature's way of controlling population growth.

"Vehicle owners and drivers have a casual approach to driving and this has to change. Globalisation and mechanisation have resulted in human life losing its value. Driving after getting drunk and while chatting over mobile phones has become the order of the day," he said.

"It is high time people learned to share the road and respect the feelings of fellow motorists. Malayalis are purchasing vehicles like never before. But road infrastructure has not grown," he lamented. In the first-phase, the Students' Road Safety Club would be launched in 10 schools in each district, the first being Loreto Anglo Indian High School. Each school would have a 20-student club. They would be trained in different aspects of using the road. Syndicate Bank was sponsoring the endeavour in the district. Transport Commissioner Ramesh Chandra Bhanu said the department was focussed on imparting training on road safety to children so that they would grow up as law-abiding citizens. "It is notable that the strike called against speed governors was a failure.

The Transport Minister has given a breath of fresh air to the department," Mr. Bhanu said.

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