Spl drive from March 21 to 31 to prevent road accidents

Bhubaneswar: In view of the rising number of road accidents in Odisha, the State Transport Authority has ordered a special enforcement-cum-road safety awareness drive across the state from March 21 to March 31.The order, issued on Tuesday, directed all regional transport officers and additional regional transport officers to carry out the campaign in their respective jurisdictions as road accidents and fatalities continue to remain a matter of serious concern.The drive will focus on frequent traffic violations that are contributing to accidents on a daily basis. These include triple riding on two-wheelers, riding without helmets, wrong-side driving, over speeding, drink driving, overloading of goods and passenger vehicles, and driving without a valid licence.

The authority has also expressed concern over reports of transport vehicles, especially tippers, dumpers and hyvas, being driven by persons without valid and effective driving licences or proper authorisation.Officials have been asked to intensify enforcement in accident-prone stretches, national highways, state highways, mining and industrial corridors, urban arterial roads, major junctions, market areas, bus stands and other vulnerable locations.

According to the order, each RTO and additional RTO will prepare a local enforcement plan identifying vulnerable points and corridors, team-wise deployment, checking time slots and supervisory arrangements to ensure effective implementation of the drive.Special emphasis will be laid on evening and night enforcement, particularly to check drink driving, over-speeding and the movement of mining and goods transport vehicles.

Transport officials have also been directed to coordinate with superintendents of police, deputy commissioners of police and local police authorities wherever necessary.Such coordination will be crucial for drunken driving checks, over-speeding detection, action against wrong-side driving, management of vulnerable accident locations, crowd control and traffic regulation during awareness programmes, official sources said.Alongside enforcement, the State Transport Authority has instructed all RTOs and additional RTOs to organise road safety awareness activities during the 10-day campaign. The awareness component is aimed at sensitising motorists, transport operators and the general public about the importance of following traffic rules and adopting safe road behaviour, said the official sources.“We hope the combined enforcement and awareness initiative will help curb violations, improve compliance with traffic regulations and reduce road accidents and fatalities across Odisha,” said an official of the transport department.