Road safety campaign launched in Himachal Pradesh

SHIMLA: To make road safety a culture in the state and to reduce road accidents, chief minister Jai Ram Thakur launched a state-level road safety campaign on Sunday at the Ridge Shimla. The state witnesses over 3000 road accidents a year, resulting in the death of average over 1100 people and injuries to over 5000 others.
In last 10 years between 2009 to 2018, Himachal Pradesh has recorded 30993 road accidents in which 11561 people were killed, while 53,909 people were injured.This year, till May 31, the state has recorded a total of 1168 road accidents in which 430 people have been killed while 2155 people have been injured. Data obtained from Road Accident Data Management System (RADMS) has revealed that rash driving, overspeeding, dangerous overtaking, drugs and alcohol intake, slippery and uneven road surfaces, suspected vehicle defect, adverse weather, non-provision of parapets and crash barrier on outer curves etc are the major causes of accidents. Human error remains the main cause of accidents in the state and was 93.61 percent in 2019.
Director transport, Captain JM Pathania, said that the chief minister would also administer pledge on road safety on the occasion. He said that marathon run for road safety ' Daud Suraksha Ki' would be flagged off from the Ridge by Transport Minister Govind Singh Thakur on Sunday at 7:30 am in which races would be organised for different categories that is 20 km for men, 10 km for women and 6 km for below 20 years and 3 km for senior citizens. He said that cash prizes would be given to all the winners.
Pathania said that various stakeholders and people especially school children would be sensitized towards road safety during this special campaign at the initial stage which would be followed by strict enforcement.
He said that it has been observed that around 95 percent road accidents happened due to human error which could be reduced by making people aware about road safety.
He said that transport department would launch widespread campaign across state for road safety starting with including HRTC drivers and conductors later including taxi drivers and school children in the campaign.
He said that every month, special classes on road safety would be conducted for school children of 8th to 12th classes during which declamation contest and slogan writing contest would also be held.
He said that master trainers would also be deployed to create awareness while driving schools would be started with the help of car companies.