CALANGUTE: In an effort to reduce the number of accidents in Goa, traffic police have identified a large number of ‘blind spots’ which are accident-prone and sent around 2,000 proposals for road engineering, widening, hot-mixing, road signage, traffic signals, speed breakers, etc. to prevent accidents, Traffic Police DySP Siddhant Shirodkar said on Friday evening during a traffic safety awareness drive at Calangute.
Shirodkar said the safety of people travelling on various modes of transport is always uppermost in the minds of traffic police with the motto “Live for yourself, live for others.”
“People should know when they speed and are in a rush that there are others on the road too. People have to also observe traffic rules and discipline because it is they who suffer when accidents take place,” he said, adding that most accidents happen due to rash and negligent driving.
“It is not only the persons involved in an accident who die or suffer, but also their family members who have to live with the pain for many years. The opposite party also suffers,” he said.
He said they have also identified a large number of ‘blind spots’ which are accident-prone and suggested measures to prevent accidents because of criticism over the high number of accidents in Goa “We have sent around 2,000 proposals for road widening, hotmixing, road signage, traffic signals etc, and the infrastructure is getting improved ,” he said.
Shirodkar said traffic police are fully ready for the rush of tourists in the Bardez coastal belt for the Christmas-New Year peak tourism season, pointing out that traffic movement was completely smooth during the Old Goa feast. “If Old Goa was smooth, Sunburn will also be smooth,” he said.
Asked about criticism of the traffic police for stopping tourists in the coastal belt, he said it is unavoidable. “We are simply doing our duty. There are many who rent out private vehicles or those with expired permits to tourists. We have sent a lot of reports to the transport department and Calangute police have also sent reports for cancellation of trade licence. Any job there is always some criticism,” he said.
Calangute traffic cell PI Sachin Narvekar was also present along with panchayat members.