LAHORE: The ‘World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Crashes’ was marked here on Saturday like other parts of the globe with a renewed pledge to continue efforts for promoting culture of safer communities by ensuring safety at all levels.
To mark the day, the Punjab Emergency Services Department held a function, to highlight the importance of the day.
Addressing the ceremony, the Punjab Minister for Emergency Services & Health Khawaja Salman Rafiq expressed solidarity with the victims of road traffic crashes and said that the Punjab government is providing right to emergency care to all citizens by timely provision of emergency ambulance fire and rescue and motorbike rescue services, patient transfer services and air ambulance.
At the same time, he said motorbikes are requested to wear properly strapped helmet, reduce speed as 83 percent road traffic victims are associated with motorbikes. He also appealed with tractor trolleys drivers to avoid parking at road sides and use appropriate light to prevent deaths due to trolley accidents.
The Parliamentary Secretary of Emergency Services Department, Zia Ullah Shah, paid rich tribute to emergency services and acknowledged the tireless efforts of Rescuers in providing immediate rescue services to victims of road traffic crashes. He emphasized the importance of responsible driving and adherence to traffic laws. He also expressed concern over the high involvement of motorcycles in road accidents, stating that over 83% of incidents include motorcycles. “Always keep your motorcycle speed below 50 km/h, drive in extreme left lane, use back mirror and securely fasten your helmet strap,” he advised.
Secretary Emergency Services, Dr. Rizwan Naseer appreciated rescuers for providing emergency services to 4.8 million road traffic crashes victims in 4.2 million road traffic crashes emergencies since October, 2004. He expressed his serious concern over increasing numbers of road traffic crashes especially due to motorbikes and tractor trolleys.
He said that an accident occurring every 56 seconds in Punjab, which means that an average 1200 road traffic crashes with 11 deaths are occurring daily in the province of Punjab. He emphasized on implementation of the Global Road Safety targets to reduce road deaths and serious injuries by 50 percent by the end of 2030 as proclaimed in UN Resolution for Second Decade of Action for Road Safety from 2021-2030.
Dr. Rizwan further reviewed emergency data which showed that out of total 1200 road crashes daily, more than half victims are being shifted to hospitals, which is huge socio-economic burden on the government. Furthermore, killing tractor trolleys accidents are another big challenge for road users and Emergency Services as death ratio is 10 percent in these crashes, he added.
Dr. Rizwan Naseer requested bikers to drive motorbike with 30km/hr speed to reduce road crashes. He also directed all District Emergency Officers (DEOs) to collaborate with relevant law enforcement agencies to prevent the illegal parking of tractor trolleys on roads, proper headlights installations at both front corners of the trolleys and ensure strict action against overloaded and protruding bar trolleys.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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