Regional Transport Office , Kathua today organized one day awareness programme on Road Safety at South Campus University Of Jammu.Regional Transport Officer Kathua Amarjeet Singh, ARTO Indu Jamwal, Motor Vehicle Inspector Rajeev Kundal, Pankaj Khajuria Assistant Professor and other staff made the students of Kathua University campus aware about the road safety rules.The students were educated on the subject with the help of audio visual aids as well as through demonstration of road safety signals.Speaking on the occasion, RTO urged upon the staff members and students to become the agents of change by creating awareness regarding road safety and traffic rules to minimize road mishaps.“It is high time to rededicate our efforts to ensure safety on roads by evaluating our speed, following traffic rules and helping the victims of road accidents” he said.The RTO elaborated on the importance of observing Road Safety and the need of following traffic rules. He further informed that 1.3 lac people die and 5 lakh get seriously injured every year in our country in road mishaps adding 90 percent of road accidents can be avoided by controlling speed on road as 63% accidents happen on highways alone which constitutes 2-3% of total roads.
Elaborating the role of Good Samaritans in road accidents, the RTO informed that as per the report of law commission of India 50 % of those killed in road accidents could have been saved if they were to get care on time. He said in the absence of established emergency medical services, Bystanders can play a game changing role in saving lives.He further informed that Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, govt. of India has already issued guidelines for the protection of good Samaritans i.e. a person who is a bystander or a passer-by, who choose to assist an injured person or a person in distress on the road and Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for examination of Good Samaritans by the police and /or during trial.He said Supreme Court of India vide its order dated- 30-03-2016 has approved both the guidelines dated 12-05-2015 and 21-01-2016 and directed that these guidelines, be complied by all the functionaries of the State Governments.Later, HOD MBA, Kathua campus Dr. Jyoti welcomed the initiative of Regional Transport Office Kathua for conducting such an innovative and informative program on road safety. She advised the students to act as agents of change and help to create a safe environment on the roads.