Those without protective headgear gifted key chain saying 'Wear A Helmet'; bikers donning one get congratulatory card
The Annual Roadstar Campaign kicked off at University Road in the city yesterday, with volunteers of a non-profit organisation spotting bikers not wearing helmets, and distributing key chains to them reminding them to adhere to safety rules.
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Similarly, surprised motor motorcyclists wearing helmets were also felicitated with cards congratulating them for their adherence to the law, and were likewise also given the keychain in order to prompt them to continue to wear a helmet. The key chains sporting the words ‘Wear a helmet’ were dispensed to nearly 2,000 bikers.
The campaign was organised by Margadarshak, an NGO, and ably supported by the Pune City Police. Ajay Aggarwal, founder of Margadashak, who led this activity said, “Our mission was to imbibe the idea of road safety into the minds of common people in a way that they could remember.
By rewarding the citizens who wear helmets regularly, we wanted to reinforce their faith and encourage them in this act. We were closely involved with the police in this activity, as the people would feel good when they got a warm appreciation from the police too.”
Police officials claim that in the city where there is little regard for safe driving and with accidents taking place everyday, this was the perfect way to address the issue. Moreover, bikers who were stopped thanked and appreciated the police officials for their efforts, with some seemingly determined to abide by traffic rules in future.
“This initiative was undertaken to spread awareness of traffic rules which are generally known to all but followed by few. So, we hope that our campaign makes more people aware,” said DCP-Traffic, Vishwas Pandhre.
Volunteers carried out this activity at Bata Chowk at M G Road and Golibar Maidan. Today, the volunteers hope to distribute 6,000 key chains and 15,000 cards to people by visiting various areas of the city thorough the course of the day. School children will also be educated in basic safety rules. u00a0