Jammu: With 88 people killed and over 1,000 injured in road accidents across Kathua, Samba, Rajouri and Poonch during the first seven months of this year, Traffic Police Rural Jammu conducted a special drive targeting two-wheeler violations, which accounted for 44 per cent of the crashes, booking 8,675 violators, an official said on Tuesday.
The awareness-cum-enforcement campaign, conducted from September 1 to 14, followed an analysis of accident data that highlighted the significant involvement of two-wheelers in crashes across the four districts, a spokesperson of the traffic police (Rural Jammu) said.
According to an analysis of road accident data from January 1 to July 31 by Traffic Police Rural Jammu, a total of 699 accidents were reported in the four districts, resulting in 88 fatalities and injuries to 1,001 persons.
The analysis revealed that two-wheelers were involved in 309 accidents, accounting for 44 per cent of the total accidents reported during the period, he said.
The data also showed that two-wheelers were involved in 39 fatal accidents. As many as 384 persons were injured in accidents involving two-wheelers, while 144 cases were single-vehicle accidents involving two-wheelers, the spokesperson said.
On National Highways, he said 102 accidents (41 per cent) involved two-wheelers, while on other roads, 210 accidents (47 per cent) were linked to two-wheelers.
Significantly, 27 per cent of accident victims were below the age of 26 years. Out of total 699 road accidents during the relevant period, 445 (64 percent) were those in which single vehicles were involved.
To address the growing concern, Traffic Police Rural Jammu launched a comprehensive awareness and enforcement campaign across all four districts, the spokesperson said.
Alongside awareness activities, strict enforcement action was carried out against violators.
A total of 8,675 challans were issued during the drive, the spokesperson said, adding among them, 5767 riders were booked for riding without helmets, while 1152 pillion riders were penalized for not wearing helmets and another 1106 violations were recorded for triple riding.
He said the enforcement drive also resulted in action against 188 riders for using mobile phones while driving, 260 for dangerous driving and 146 for driving without a valid driving license.
Three minors were found illegally driving two-wheelers, leading to the seizure of their vehicles. Additionally, 50 riders were booked for illegal vehicle modifications. Overall, 187 vehicles were seized for various traffic violations during the special drive, the spokesperson said.
During the drive, he said 267 awareness programmes were conducted at educational institutions, tuition centres, bus stands, playgrounds, libraries and other public places to educate citizens, particularly youth, about road safety norms and provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act.
Traffic Police Rural Jammu also conducted on-road road-safety counseling sessions in Rajouri and Poonch districts where dedicated canopies were established for interacting with road users.
The initiative followed the innovative “no-challan, only counseling” concept, the spokesperson said.
He said the road users, particularly two-wheeler riders, were invited to sit under the canopy and were counselled on helmet use, traffic discipline, safe driving practices and the consequences of risky road behaviour.
No challans were issued during the exercise, with the entire focus being on dialogue, sensitization and persuasion, the spokesperson said.
Senior Superintendent of Police, Traffic Rural Jammu, Farooq Qaiser said similar special drives targeting other categories of vehicles, including Light Motor Vehicles (LMVs) would be launched in the coming days.
He appealed to all motorists to strictly adhere to traffic rules and provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, warning that stringent enforcement against violators would continue in the interest of public safety.
