MARGAO
Road Safety Week got off to a start on Monday in a novel fashion at Navelim, with traffic violators welcomed not with challans, but with flowers.
In fact, the Road Safety Week was organised by the Village Panchayat of Navelim in association with the Lions Club of Navelim, the Traffic Management Committee, Navelim, and Rosary College, Navelim, with an awareness drive instead of enforcing the rules.
Traffic violators, comprising two-wheeler riders riding sans helmets and car drivers without fastening seat belts, were stopped by the officials of the enforcement agencies and members of the Panchayat body, Lions Club. To their surprise, the violators received roses instead of challans but were made to understand the importance of wearing helmets and fastening seat belts, informed Lions Club president Desmond Baptista.
A RTO official told the media that the officials and members gave the violators roses and tried to educate them on the importance of complying with the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act. “Today, we held an awareness drive basically to educate the traffic violators. No fines were imposed on the violators on day one of Road Safety Week,” the official said, adding that the drive is being undertaken in a bid to reduce the accident rate.
Navelim Panchayat member Paul Pereira said the initiative has been taken by the Navelim Panchayat in association with Rosary College students, Traffic and RTO, and the Lions Clubs in order to create awareness. “We tried to impress upon the youngsters how wearing helmets and fastening seat belts help to protect lives. By giving a rose, we have sent a message that we care for their lives,” he added.
