Kataka: Odisha has drawn up a blueprint to develop Bhubaneswar and other cities as ‘Ideal Road Safety Towns’ as part of efforts to reduce road accidents and fatalities in the state.
The blueprint was presented at a road safety awareness meeting held at the Crime Branch Conference Hall in Kataka on Wednesday under the joint auspices of the Crime Branch, State Transport Authority (STA), Common Action for Road Safety, TRAX and Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India.
The meeting focused on measures to prevent road accidents and minimise the loss of life and property caused by them.
According to the discussions, more than 66 per cent of people killed in road accidents in Odisha are in the 18-45 age group. Non-use of helmets and seat belts, along with overspeeding, have emerged as major factors contributing to road accident fatalities.
The proposed road safety initiative will be implemented through the ‘4E’ approach — Education, Engineering, Enforcement and Emergency Care. The strategy seeks to combine awareness and training with safer road infrastructure, strict enforcement of traffic rules and prompt medical assistance to accident victims.
Under the education component, the meeting discussed strengthening road safety awareness programmes in schools and colleges, expanding digital publicity and introducing computer-aided simulated driving training for applicants seeking driving licences.
In the engineering component, emphasis was laid on identifying accident-prone locations or blackspots, improving road design and installing smart road safety signage.
The enforcement measures proposed include stricter compliance with helmet and seat belt rules, greater use of speed cameras and intensified checking at traffic intersections.
The emergency care component will focus on ensuring that injured persons receive medical assistance within the golden hour. The meeting also stressed training volunteers and ensuring prompt ambulance response to accident sites.
Additional Director General of Police (Modernisation) Soumyendra Priyadarshi, IGP (Crime Branch) Sarthak Sarangi, IGP (Provisioning) Niti Shekhar, DIG (Crime Branch) Madkar Sandeep Sampat, Odisha Road Safety Council member and advocate Sujit Senapati, Punam Rani, Anurag Kulashreshtha, Sanjit Singh and others attended the meeting.
