The fact that 26 percent victims of road accidents in Karachi comprise children makes it important and urgent to create road sense among the local kids, said Administrator of Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, Mohammad Hussain Syed on Sunday. Speaking at the launching ceremony of “highway code for children,” compiled by Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, he said children are more vulnerable to road accidents as compared to adult population in the city.
“It is therefore extremely important to inculcate traffic sense among the kids and help them learn traffic code that is equally relevant for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists,” he said. Mohammad Hussain Syed appreciated the fact that KMC in the first phase of a campaign has initiated highways code awareness among students registered with its 552 schools.
This, he said was extremely important due to constant increase in the number of traffic accidents consequent to high speed and wrong sides adopted by drivers. The KMC administrator also drew attention towards steady increase in the number of untrained drivers in karachi coupled with impatience in general among road users. He said there were 1.4 million registered private vehicles plying in Karachi besides 250,000 motorcycles, 4.2 million chengis (multi-seated motor- bike driven rickshaws). This he said were apart from thousands of wagons, coaches and buses.
He warned that if the citizens in general continue with the their careless attitude and violation of traffic rules persisted then the situation, in terms of loss of human lives and public property, may aggravate to serious proportions and cause severe repercussions. The administrator of Karachi said the KMC has started with education of students as a strategy to prepare well informed and rules’ compliant citizens.
The “highway code,” published in both urdu and english has been penned by Sattar Javaid under the supervision of Mohammad Ather, the senior director of transport and communication, KMC. The book will be distributed among all students of KMC schools scattered across the city.
The KMC administrator on the occasion told the journalists that following the completion of Zulfiqarabad Oil Terminal Parking no oil tanker would be allowed to enter into the Karachi city limits that would not only improve the traffic flow but will further help shifting the heavy traffic out of city. He also referred to inter-city bus terminal projects on Super Highway and National Highway that would help restricting entry of passenger buses within city limits.
The scheme, he said is similar to intercity bus terminus built at Yousf Goth for the buses running on Karachi-Quetta and Quetta-Karachi route that had significantly reduced traffic pressure on major thoroughfares in Karachi. Mohammad Hussain Syed on the occasion also directed the officials of KMC’s Traffic and Communication to distribute awareness literature, related to traffic rules, among the citizens in general.
