Cricketer Srinath bats for safe driving

MYSORE: Former international cricketer Javagal Srinath on Wednesday used cricket analogy with road traffic to drive home the point that defensive driving should be the mantra of the motorists.
"I liked the pace of my bowling. But when it comes to driving, I'm just the opposite," Srinath, who is known for fast bowling, told children launching the national road safety week.It is important to bowl fast in cricket but it is imperative that we should be defensive while driving. This ensures that our roads are safe, he said.
Launching the weeklong programme organized as part of the twenty fifth road safety week, Srinath, who is traffic ambassador of Mysore police, batted for safer roads and tasked it to the children. "Ask your parents to follow traffic rules. When they leave house, hand them over the helmet and make them use it while driving. At the traffic junctions, as them to follow the rules and not to jump signal. They will follow it as they listen to the kids advice."
According to him, it is motorists who make the roads safer. The cops have limited role to play in it. If the motorists are disciplined, they will make the roads safer for themselves and for other too, he stated asking the cops to focus on educational aspect for better traffic management. Enforcement is key but education is also important. The drive should be not be limited to some time but should be continued, he asserted pledging his support to make Mysore roads safer.
ADGP (crime and technical services) N S Megharik said growing cities is hit by traffic problems, which, he said, has become a challenge for the cops to manage. The traffic challenges are more in developed cities as they have signal-free junctions. The urban planners should factor in the needs of pedestrians when they develop the road, he said. Mysore police commissioner M A Saleem said the city has witnessed over 140 casualties in road accidents last year. Some 10,000 have died in road mishaps in the state, which, he said, is sad as it is preventable.
As part of the weeklong event, the city police have organised an exhibition at the parade grounds in front of the Mysore police commissionerate in Nazarbad.