Ponnam Reviews Road Safety Measures

Transport minister Ponnam Prabhakar on Friday addressed a meeting on the implementation of road safety measures in line with the directives of the Supreme Court committee on road safety. The meeting saw the presence of officials from all stakeholders: transport, police, health, roads and buildings, NHAI, GHMC and HMDA. The meeting noted that 7,186 fatal accidents had occurred in the state, in others, 2,476 suffered grievous injuries, 10,404 minor injuries and 2,747 normal injuries.

Among the decisions was to rectify black spots, which are prone to accidents, after identifying them using ambulance and police records. The meeting reviewed the efficiency of



ambulance services and the availability of critical care facilities along major accident-prone routes. The meeting decided to take legal action such as suspension of driving licences for serious offenses such as drunken driving and wrong-side driving. 

Traffic education outreach will be expanded to include educational programmes for intermediate students. The meeting emphasised the need to increase the number of pedestrian walkways on national highways, to protect pedestrians. It was decided that district road safety committees will meet regularly. The lead agency will be the transport commissioner,