Road Safety Week celebration concludes with impressive function at Shopian

Over-speeding & negligent driving, major cause of road accidents; mass awareness among road users need of the hour: DC Shopian

SHOPIAN, January 17: Motor Vehicles Department (MVD) Shopian today organized a valedictory function of Road Safety Week at Meeting Hall of Mini-Secretariat, here.

Deputy Commissioner (DC) Shopian, Sachin Kumar Vaishya was the chief guest at the event.

Speaking on the occasion, the DC said that the need of the hour is to educate the people about the importance of following the traffic rules for the safety of all road users.

He said that good driving behaviours and removing infrastructural gaps is essential for ensuring safe travels.

The DC urged partnership between transporters, traffic management authorities and the general public for better traffic management. He also laid stress on adherence to the golden rules of driving.

Assistant Regional Transport Officer (ARTO) Shopian, Muazzam Ali enumerated causes of road accidents, adding that 1.55 lac people die due to road accidents throughout the country which is about 426 deaths daily.

In J&K on an average 3 deaths occur per day, stated ARTO, primarily because of over-speeding, negligent driving and lack of proper road infrastructure.

On the concluding day of Road Safety Week, MVD in collaboration with the Health department also organised free medical/ eye Check up of drivers.

Later, in presence of Deputy Commissioner, mementos, cash prizes and commendation certificates were distributed among winners/ participants, who excelled in different activities organized during the Road Safety Week.

For the painting competition, Rabia Muzafar, Firdous-un-Nabi and Anees-Ul Islam were awarded first, second and third prizes respectively.

Among others, Joint Director Planning Khursheed Ahmed Khatana, district officers, students of various schools and drivers were present.