Karachi: Around 250 people lost their lives every year in traffic accidents, said DIG Traffic Police Javed Ali Mahar. He was speaking as chief guest at the awareness walk and seminar held at the University of Karachi. The Department of Geography KU in collaboration with National Highway and Motorway Police arranged the seminar at the KU Arts Auditorium.
He said it is unfortunate that the majority of the drivers in the megacity did not follow the traffic rules and are often found violating the traffic laws on streets.
The major thoroughfares like Sharea Faisal and Maripur Road and others have many pedestrian bridges but ironically passers-by particularly women along with children do not use those brides and crosses the roads despite heavy traffic movement which not only disturbs the traffic flow but also causes road accidents which resulted in injuries and often causalities.
The pedestrians and drivers both do not have a good understanding and knowledge regarding the traffic rules and regulations and due to lack of awareness, we witnessed road traffic incidents regularly.
The drivers and pedestrians must have road safety awareness to avoid mishaps on the streets. Every year in Karachi around 250 people lost their lives in road traffic accidents and this figure could be reduced if awareness regarding traffic laws spread among the masses which in the return should be followed n letter and spirit.
Mahar noted that family members of the deceased and injured people in road accidents have to suffer a lot. He said that if motorcyclists, four-wheel and drivers of heavy vehicles and passersby pay attention while they are on roads then the number of road accidents can be reduced.
He also said that the number of injuries and casualties due to traffic accidents could be reduced if citizens play their due role and added that people’s ignorance and carelessness create problems for citizens.
“Rather blaming each other or any institution, we have to follow the traffic laws because we all are stakeholders and our joint efforts can bring positive changes in society.”
The DIG Traffic Police said that the objective of his visit is to create road traffic awareness, especially among the students so that they could act more responsibly when driving or walking.
He informed the audience that getting a license is not difficult but hardly few people might know that they have to drive their two or four-wheeler vehicles on smaller roads for three years and if they are not booked by the traffic police and drive like a sensible person then he or she will get permission to drive on highways besides reissuance of their driving licenses.
Another speaker, Professor Dr Afzal Ahmed, Department of Urban and Infrastructure Engineering, NED University, observed that motorcyclists can avoid head injuries up to 95 percent if they wear helmets.
“We have conducted a survey and the research data reveals the fact that the majority of motorcycle riders of whom students were the majority did not wear helmets.” He said that students should act more sensibly and also encourage others to use helmets while driving two-wheeler vehicles.
He informed the audience that according to the data gathered in the recent past, around 65 percent of motorcyclists were involved in road traffic accidents.
Meanwhile, Dr Salman Zubair, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, KU, who is also the road safety ambassador for universities, expressed that unfortunately, Pakistan is one of those countries where incidents of road traffic accidents are on the rise.
He mentioned that youngsters mainly about 19 to 33 years of ages are found involved in road traffic-related accidents. He said that Karachi alone has suffered a financial loss of Rs518 billion in a year in road traffic accidents.
Earlier, an awareness walk was arranged from the Silver Jubilee Gate to the Arts Auditorium. The participants were holding road safety messages.