Noida, Dec 3 (IANS): Uttar Pradesh observed 'Traffic Month' between November 1 and November 30, during which the traffic police kept a close vigil on violations of road safety rules and spread awareness about traffic rules.
Gautam Buddha Nagar district, which stands at 14th position in the state in terms of deaths due to road accidents, saw a significant number of traffic rule violations during the month.
Every year an average of 386 people lose their lives in Gautam Buddha Nagar district in road accidents.
In the district, a total of 2,51,398 challans were issued in November against the drivers violating traffic rules and a total fine of Rs 59,29,11,000 was imposed against these violations.
A total of Rs 2,70,500 was collected in the month from violators and deposited in the government treasury. As many as 680 vehicles were seized due to air pollution and other reasons.
The maximum number of challans were related to driving without a helmet and wrong-side driving.
Meanwhile, the traffic police in the district organised awareness campaigns by setting up camps in schools, street plays and other programmes.
Also, an oath to follow traffic rules was administered to drivers and conductors of various transport unions, roadways bus, autos, cabs, e-rickshaw drivers, 36,160 persons working in various companies, 570 teachers, and 28,160 students of 63 schools and colleges in the district.
The district traffic police also organised health camps for police personnel on November 2 and 3.
Also on November 7, 9, 10, 12, 16, 21, and 25 eye checkup camps were organised for vehicle drivers, mostly truck drivers, in various parts of the district.
The district traffic police took the help of NGOs for awareness programmes, which were mainly organised at educational institutions.
On November 1, a bike rally was flagged off from the premises of the Police Commissioner's Office for environmental and road safety awareness.
The Road Safety Cell of the district traffic police and SHARE NGO together organised as many as 45 street plays and health checkup camps at the Commissionerate in the month.
The Road Safety Cell also made over 65,000 people aware of the traffic rules with the help of short videos that were played on LED screen vans at 340 places across the district in the month.
During the Traffic Month, a total of 180 people were made traffic friends by forming a WhatsApp group.
Drivers violating traffic rules were administered the oath to follow the traffic rules. Keeping the fog in view, reflective tape was installed on 4,620 vehicles and officials say that this campaign will continue further.
The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims was observed on November 19 (falls on the third Sunday of November), during which tributes were paid to 468 people who died in various road accidents in the district in one year by lighting lamps at GIP Mall.
In the district, as many as 15 'blackspots' were previously identified by the administration. With the help of various departments, comprehensive actions were taken and four blackspots were eliminated while the process to eliminate the remaining 11 is in progress.
In Uttar Pradesh, Kanpur has the highest number of deaths due to road accidents, followed by Prayagraj and Agra.
According to official figures, almost 21,000 people die every year in 20 districts of the state in road accidents. Most of the road accidents occur due to overspeeding. A significant number of road accidents -- 12 per cent -- take place wrong side driving.
In 2022, 40 per cent of road accident-related deaths were due to overspeeding, 10 per cent due to mobile phone usage during driving, 5 per cent due to red light jump, and 10 per cent due to drunk driving.