Date:03/01/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/01/03/stories/2009010351790300.htm

Karnataka - Shimoga

‘Road Safety Week’ begins

Special Correspondent

SHIMOGA: Chairman of the Malnad Area Development Board A.S. Padmanabh Bhat said on Thursday that it was only through the strict enforcement of traffic rules road accidents could be avoided.

Speaking after inaugurating “Road Safety Week” at the Nehru Stadium here, he said that parents alone should be held responsible if their children were involved in accidents as there was a growing tendency among them to buy two-wheelers to their children.

Deputy Transport Commissioner Maruti Sambrani said the fact that nearly 80,000 people were killed in road accidents in the country every year spoke of the seriousness of the problem arising out of reckless driving.

Deputy Commissioner Pankaj Kumar Pandey said children should be encouraged to use bicycles.