Greater Chennai Traffic Police urge Chennaiites to make August 26 a ‘Zero Accident’ day

CHENNAI: The traffic police get a lot of flak, often, for not doing their jobs, and sometimes, even for doing it well. Notwithstanding the brickbats they receive every day from all quarters, the Greater Chennai Traffic Police (GCTP) on Tuesday, made a clarion call to the general public, especially all vehicle users, to come together for their ‘Zero is Good’ campaign, which aims to have zero accidents on August 26.

A monumental task especially considering that the State and the capital are among the Top 10 in the list of fatal accidents in the country, each year.

Launching the campaign at the central depot of MTC (Metropolitan Transport Corporation) on Pallavan Salai, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) R Sudhakar acknowledged that it was, in fact, a challenge, but also expressed sceptical optimism and backed his team and the denizens to be up for the challenge.

The idea for a ‘Zero Accident Day’ was first sown at the IIT-Madras’s Centre of Excellence for Road Safety during our frequent interactions to make the city safer, Sudhakar recalled. “While attending Chennai Super Kings (CSK) matches, we thought why not tap the city’s love into something positive! Traffic police have always got the stick from vehicle users – be it MTC drivers, auto drivers or motorists. However, we want to make Chennai a forerunner in taking steps to address the issue of accidents. We might win or lose in this, but this is a start,” said Sudhakar.

Appreciating the MTC’s efforts in implementing traffic police’s suggestions, the ACP said that it takes a collective effort to achieve the goal.

“If everybody follows traffic rules, there will be zero penalties. If there are no traffic violations, there would be no congestion on roads, and GCTP will have zero corruption too,” he opined.

In the lead up to the Zero Accident Day on August 26 (Monday), the city police have planned to meet stakeholders from schools, colleges, IT firms, auto drivers, truck and van drivers, e-commerce delivery partners, and even RWAs (Resident Welfare Associations) to appeal to their cause.

“This is Chennai’s event. So, every Chennaiite must come together for this. I’m apprehensive, but I also have the confidence,” Sudhakar said.

Earlier, MTC’s managing director Alby John stressed on the initiatives taken by the transport corporation to reduce fatal accidents. “The recent buses we have procured are fitted with rear-view cameras. All buses that don’t have doors are being retrofitted with them. We’re giving special counselling and training for drivers. I’m grateful to the GCTP for choosing MTC as a starting point for this important campaign,” Alby John said.

One of the catalysts for the campaign, IIT-M Prof Venkatesh Balasubramaniam, whose team has worked with the police and MTC for several years in addressing road safety, expressed hope that denizens could come together to pull the feat.

“As far as I know, no city in India has taken up such a challenge. Delhi will laugh if we say this because we’re champions of champions in accidents. If we can make this successful, it would be like a cinema,” said the professor. “Logo is not the game. The real work is to ensure that no accidents happen.”