Telangana police to conduct Road Safety Month: DGP Ravi Gupta

HYDERABAD: Telangana Director-General of Police (DGP) Ravi Gupta has directed all district SPs and commissioners of police to conduct Road Safety Month with utmost alertness.

The DGP held a video conference with all district SPs and commissioners organised by Road safety and Railways wing at the DGP office on Tuesday. Transport commissioner Buddha Prakash, Additional DGP (Road safety & Railway) Mahesh M.Bhagawat, Hyderabad City Police Commissioner Srinivas Reddy, DIG Ranganath, and Road Safety SP Sandeep, among others, participated.

Speaking on the occasion, the DGP said that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways declared January 15 to February 14 as Road Safety Month. He directed that police officers and personnel to be on high alert for the entire month.

The DGP opined that road accidents were the major cause of death among the youth. He said that road accidents could be controlled through engineering, enforcement, education, and emergency measures.

He said that road accidents are increasing due to the increasing number of vehicles, lack of caution among passengers, and other factors such as not wearing helmets, not wearing seat belts, over speeding, dangerous driving, and talking on mobile phones while driving.

He said as per available records in road accidents, 7,500 persons died in 2022 in Telangana, whereas 1,68,000 persons died across India.

The DGP said that road safety clubs should be set up in areas where highways were passing through. He also said that district road safety bureaux and commissionerates should’ve be set up. He said that the possibility of purchasing speed guns and breathalyzers through the challan fine funds should be explored if necessary.

The DGP said Good Samaritan felicitations might be take up for those who saved lives in road accidents.

The DGP clarified to police officers that such measures should not be limited to this month, but should be followed in the long term as well.