BANGALORE: The Road safety week saw a warm response in the city. In an attempt to promote safety of pedestrians, Delhi traffic police came out with a unique way to ensure pedestrian safety. They offered prizes worth Rs 5,000 to people who use footbridges. People that use the bridges at peak times were handed leaflets and a prize draw was conducted. Bangalore is one of the most accident-prone cities in the country. Nimhans data on pedestrian deaths in Bangalore showed a 45 per cent increase in the number of accidents and deaths of pedestrians due to accidents in the city. In 2009, 365 were killed and in 2010, 400 pedestrians were killed. So in such circumstances what measures are the Bangalore traffic police is undertaking?When City Express contacted the Additional Commissioner MA Saleem for the efforts taken to ensure pedestrian safety, by the Bangalore Traffic Management centre, he said, “We have received more number of pedestrian deaths over the years. But we have taken measures and hope that this will reduce unprecedented accidents in the city. At present we have 417 high pedestrian crossing, roads are elevated to 6 inches.” Comparing the traffic in Bangalore to Delhi, he said, “Delhi has too many sky walks. Bangalore might have less skywalks in comparision of Delhi. However, there are few now, out of which, only the KR Puram sky walk is put to use. Recently, we have put 30 pedestrian controlled lights and 16 more will be installed in different parts of the city.”The survey further revealed that data collected under the Bangalore injury surveillance programme for one year indicate that pedestrians contributed for half of deaths and one fourth of hospital registrations. It is estimated that in Bangalore city, on an average, 550 pedestrians are killed and more than 10,000 are injured and hospitalised every year. Now the question is, will these measures change the trend in the statistics of pedestrains deaths in the city? We will have to wait and watch.
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