Hans News Service Vijayawada

Districtcollector Dr G Lakshmisha on Friday called for the active participation of all stakeholders to transform Vijayawada into a model town for road safety, stating that the Ideal Town on Road Safety Project would play a key role in achieving this objective.

The collector unveiled posters for the project at the Collectorate on Friday. The initiative is being implemented with the support of the Transport and Police Departments, with the Honda India Foundation as the CSR partner and TRAX – Road Safety NGO as the implementing agency. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Lakshmisha said the project aims to reduce road accident deaths and injuries by 10 to 15 percent, while promoting responsible road behaviour among the public.

The programme will focus on four key areas — Engineering, Enforcement, Education and Emergency Care. Under the engineering component, infrastructure deficiencies at accident-prone black spots will be identified and rectified. Traffic regulations will be strictly enforced through zero-tolerance zones as part of the enforcement measures.

Under the education component, road safety awareness programmes will be conducted for nearly 70,000 students in 105 schools and 14 colleges. Special campaigns will focus on the importance of wearing helmets and seat belts, maintaining lane discipline and ensuring pedestrian safety.

The emergency care component will focus on training first responders to provide timely first aid and assistance to accident victims. Dr Lakshmisha said coordinated efforts involving government departments, the police, private organisations, educational institutions, voluntary groups and other stakeholders were essential to reducing road accident fatalities and injuries. The project seeks to bring all concerned agencies onto a common platform and promote coordinated action to make Vijayawada safer for motorists, pedestrians and other road users. Among those present were representatives of the Honda India Foundation, Vijayawada–NHAI Project Director Vidyasagar, TRAX – Road Safety NGO, Delhi, General Secretary Rajani Gandhi, Regional Programme Officer M Vasu and others.