Kolkata Cops take student route to pedestrian safety
Times of India | 11 February 2025
Kolkata: A staggering 40% of fatal accident victims over the past five years in the city have been pedestrians, data by cops reveal. Realising the need to create awareness about pedestrian and road safety to be able to contain such statistics, Kolkata Police (KP) reached out to school students to address this perennial challenge.
The cops organized a quiz at three locations — Traffic Training School at Park Circus, the Howrah Guard and Behala Chowrasta — involving over 200 students from seven city schools. Students were encouraged to ask questions pertaining to road and pedestrian safety to their parents and commercial drivers. "Children can change the mindset of their parents. Only when we reach out to the children, we bring about a positive change in the long run," said an officer. At these events, the students realised that road safety goes beyond wearing helmets and walking on the zebra-marked path. "When I asked one app cab driver which way one should blink if carrying a patient, he replied he would just honk. Similarly, when I asked a pedestrian if he was aware that traffic signals were also meant for those walking on the road, he said he never noticed the same," said Saptak Das, a Behala school student.
The cops also sought feedback from the students to make some intersections more pedestrian-friendly, especially the ones in front of schools. Cossipore Road, Bagbazar Street, Harlal Maitra Road, Biren Roy Road West, and Becharam Chatterjee Street have been chosen for the same.