Kerala   

Kodiyeri seeks strict enforcement of traffic rules

Attingal: Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan on Wednesday said that the enforcement of traffic norms, chiefly regarding the compulsory use of helmets and seatbelts, was relatively lax in Thiruvananthapuram city.

Inaugurating the Kovalam-Kollam Road Safety Programme, Mr. Balakrishnan said strong intervention on the part of the police in Kochi had brought down the accident rate in that city by 38 per cent.

In contrast, the earnest attempts on the part of the Thiruvananthapuram police to enforce the helmet rule were thwarted by negative campaigns in the public domain. Certain sections of the media erroneously portrayed attempts on the part of the police to enforce the helmet rule as “helmet hunts”. Such campaigns often forced individual officers to back away from undertaking traffic enforcement drives.

Mr. Balakrishnan said the compulsory use of helmets while riding two-wheelers was the law of the land and the police had no other choice but to enforce it strictly.

Mr. Balakrishnan asked the police to be mindful of their behaviour while enforcing the law and asked them to crack down on drunk driving.

Kerala had one of the highest accident rates in the country. Nearly 4,000 people died and over 40,000 suffered injuries in road accidents in the State. The Kovalam-Kollam road would be brought under video surveillance. Road safety committees would be formed near accident black spots to aid victims. Traffic clubs would be formed in over 100 educational institutions.

Aanthalavattom Anandan, MLA, said that Attingal had emerged as the worst traffic bottleneck on the NH-47. The roads were narrow and congested. The Kovalam-Kollam national highway could be made truly accident free only if the main roads passing through congested urban centres along the route were suitably widened and junctions scientifically redesigned. He said elevated and segregated pathways should be provided for pedestrians in Attingal town.

Transport Minister Jose Thettayil; Works Minister P.J. Joseph; Labour Minister P.K. Gurudasan; A. Sampath and N. Peethambarakurup, MPs; Director-General of Police Jacob Punnose; Transport Commissioner K.G. Prem Sankar; Additional Director-General of Police, South Zone, P. Chandrasekharan; and Inspector-General of Police, Thiruvananthapuram Range, A. Hemachandran, were among those present.

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