Chandigarh, March 11: The UN Global Forum for Road Traffic Safety has appreciated the initiative launched by Haryana Police for reducing the deaths and injuries due to road accidents on NH-44 (Sonipat-Ambala Highway).
Under this initiative, Haryana Police has fixed the target of reducing the number of road accidents and number of deaths on the 187-Kms long stretch of NH-44 passing through Haryana by 33% in the current year.
In this context, Director General of Police (DGP), Haryana, Mr. Manoj Yadava addressed a webinar of UN Global Forum for Road Traffic Safety wherein he highlighted various components of this initiative and mentioned that during the year 2018, 743 people have died due to road accidents on this stretch, which is more than the total number of deaths in entire Netherlands and UAE during that year.
He also explained that Haryana Police had signed an MOU with Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE) for carrying out Road Safety audits of every Km of NH-44 passing through Haryana.
The road engineering related improvements suggested by IRTE will be implemented by National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) as part of the special understanding by Haryana Police and Department of Transport (Government of Haryana).
Since a large number of road fatalities are accounted for by pedestrians and cyclists who met accidents while trying to cross NH-44, Haryana Police alongwith the other stakeholder authorities will create underpasses and foot over-bridges at points where large numbers of pedestrians cross the road, particularly at busy points in Sonipat district and Panipat.
This road safety initiative will also create a direct impact on the frequent road users like buses, trucks and trolleys drivers, and people who stop at the food outlets as they will be educated about the road safety tips.
In order to create strong deterrent for law breakers, Haryana Police is placing a network of speed checking radars, interceptors, Automatic Number Plate Readers (ANPRs) and CCTV cameras at different locations along with the Highway passing through five districts of Sonipat, Panipat, Karnal, Kurukshetra and Ambala.
