Pakistan Loses 25,000 Lives In Accidents Annually:speakers

Pakistan has one of the highest accident rate in the world as nearly 25,000 people die annually in the road accidents

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Nov, 2017 ) :Pakistan has one of the highest accident rate in the world as nearly 25,000 people die annually in the road accidents. This was stated by the speakers, including Masood Anwar, the Additional Secretary Transport, Zohaib Ahmed from OPUS, Qaiser Khattana, the chairman Institute of Road Safety Traffic Environment Pakistan (IRSTEP), Dr Murtaza Asad Bukhari, the Senior Specialist Transportation Management Urban Unit Punjab, Saleem Janjua, Head of Policy, Urban Development Centre of Excellence China Pakistan Economic Corridor, Peter Turner, an Int' Public Transport Specialist and Dr Umar Masood Qureshi, during their presentations in Urban Transport Conference-2017 held here on Wednesday.

They said that current figures were alarming enough, even more alarming was the trends and attitudes, if they continued, the number of people killed and injured on roads will be grown double in coming years and thus would become burden of cost to family, society, business and the government.

They said road safety was a global issue that ranks as one of the most pressing matters facing society today due to simultaneous growth in population, urbanization, and motorization.

Although, traffic safety is now on the global agenda yet there is dire need to work on people specially drivers' behaviour for safety of roads.

They should be educated for developing vehicle-handling skills. The IRSTEP is demonstrating that road death and injury is preventable and to ensure road safety, the IRSTEP has encouraged and supported several activities, including participation in workshops, seminars and conferences which build a community of knowledge.

The institute is dedicated to save lives through education and training. The Punjab government in collaboration with Opus Inspection (Pvt) Ltd has taken a revolutionary step in the field of road safety and environmental protection by introducing a modern and computerized Vehicle Inspection & Certification System (VICS) network.

Under the system, all public service vehicles operating in Punjab will be regularly inspected for fitness and awarded a fitness certificate upon satisfaction that the vehicle is safe to ply on roads and highways and its noise and emission levels are within environment-friendly limits.