Focus on bringing down road accidents

The Hindu and Srinivasa Yamaha in association with city police hold workshop on ‘road safety’

Secretary of the Ability People Dilip Patro addressing students at an awareness programme on road safety organised by The Hindu and Srinivasa Yamaha in association with the City Police in Visakhapatnam on Monday. Photo:C.V.Subrahmanyam

Nearly 3,500 people die in the world everyday while 2 to 5 crore people are injured and disabled due to road accidents.

In the last one year 367 people lost their lives due to road accidents in the city, said Commissioner of Police B. Shivadhar Reddy.

Speaking at the Road Safety Week workshop organised by

The Hindu and Srinivasa Yamaha in association with the city police at Andhra University Engineering College here on Monday as part of the ongoing ‘Arrive Alive’ campaign of the City Police, he emphasised the need for defensive driving.

“We aim at bringing down road accidents by 30 per cent this year by creating awareness among public,” he said. Giving a presentation, he emphasised on defensive driving and educated the students and parents on anticipating situation and being more conscious while driving.

Congratulating The Hindu and the police for taking initiative to educate youngsters, director of the Centre for Policy Studies A. Prasanna Kumar said The Hindu was just not a newspaper but a culture.

“Most of the accidents happen either due to ignorance or arrogance. Media, NGOs and educational institutions should come forward to create awareness on road safety among people,” he added.

Principal of AU Engineering College (Autonomous) G.S.N. Raju said noise pollution and sound honking cause road accidents. Concluding the campaign, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police V. Suresh Babu administered a pledge for Road Safety.

APSRTC Managing Director A.K. Khan, DCP of Law and Order P. Viswa Prasad, AU Rector A.V. Prasada Rao, Registrar of AU V. Uma Maheswara Rao, AU Engineering College (Autonomous) vice-principal Ch.V.R. Murthy, CEO of Symbiosis Technologies O. Naresh Kumar, managing director of Srinivasa Yamaha Dasaradh Reddy, and senior deputy regional manager of The Hindu A. Seshagiri Rao were among those who participated in the workshop.