According to data, 12,321 people lost their lives in road crashes in Karnataka last year,
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Bengaluru: In a bid to reduce the number of road crashes and subsequent injuries and fatalities, the state transport department and the Karnataka State Road Safety Authority (KSRSA) on Tuesday launched a mass media campaign to educate viewers on the harmful consequences of speeding.
This is their third mass media campaign after the speeding campaign launched on December 1, 2023, and a helmet wearing campaign 'Consequences' launched this January, in collaboration with Vital Strategies and Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS).
J Purushotham, Additional Commissioner for Transport and Member Secretary, KSRSA, noted that this public service announcement-style campaign ‘Motorcycle Reconstruction’ features a video where Dr G Gururaj, senior professor and former director, Nimhans, narrates two scenarios of a motorcyclist speeding versus remaining within the speed limit, leading to either a crash with a car or safe passing of the vehicles.
The video aims to show that a difference of even 20 kmph can determine the chances, severity, and survivability of a crash.
Nimhans' Dr Gautham M S will evaluate the impact of this mass media campaign that is in English and Kannada and will be displayed across the state's cinema theatres, radio and TV news channels, billboards, newspapers, and social media accounts of Bengaluru Traffic Police, KSRSA, and Transport Department for a month.
"Despite taking corrective measures, road crashes have been on the rise. People believe crashes can only happen to others, not them. The government has released Rs 90 crore for safety equipment to prevent road crashes across the state; we are calling tenders now," said K V Sharath Chandra, ADGP, Recruitment, and Commissioner, Traffic and Road Safety. He added that road engineering should improve, enforcement must be stricter, and awareness must increase among vehicle riders to bring the numbers down next year.
Over 90 per cent of the road crashes are attributed to speeding, said N V Prasad, secretary, transport department. He highlighted that this simple messaging can reduce both morbidity and mortality due to road crashes; pushing for public transport will reduce crashes overall.
Crash figures
According to data from the Karnataka State Police and Bengaluru Traffic Police, 12,321 people lost their lives in road crashes in Karnataka last year, of which 43.74 per cent were two-wheeler riders.
Bengaluru City, Tumakuru and Bengaluru district were the top three crash-prone districts in 2023, with Bengaluru City seeing a total of 4,974 crashes -- 915 deaths and 4,162 injuries.