VIJAYAWADA: Owing to the rising number of road accidents in Krishna district, the transport department and police personnel have been conducting special drives to reduce the number of mishaps, especially on vital roads such as Vijayawada-Machilipatnam, the Vijayawada-Chennai (NH-16) and Vijayawada-Hyderabad (NH-65), passing through the city.
The rate of road traffic fatality increased by 14 per cent in the district when compared to the previous year. Until July in 2019, 507 road accidents have been recorded in the district, with 169 deaths and 649 persons injured, according to the Road Transport Authority (RTA) officials. The total number of road accident cases in 2018 was 1,355, where 326 people lost their lives and 1,559 sustained injuries.
Deputy Transport Commissioner S Venkateswara Rao said that 15 road safety special teams were appointed by the police and RTA, which have been conducting several programmes to nab violators of the Motor Vehicle Act. He added that 55 accident-prone spots were also identified across the district, where signboards will be put up at the earliest.
“With an objective of improving road safety, the department has decided to conduct classes for the aspirants approaching the RTA for learner’s licence. These classes will be conducted from the end of this month in association with Honda Motors, Gurgaon. Apart from that, the department has also been formulating an action plan to make the provision of giving driving licence to people over 18 years of age more efficient and make them aware of the basic traffic rules,” Rao said.