A total of 100 schools located near accident-prone spots on highways and other busy roads have been identified across Kerala under a ‘Safe Road to School’ project spearheaded jointly by National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (Natpac) and Kerala Road Safety Authority (KRSA).
The project that would be launched soon after the Onam vacation is aimed at ensuring safety of children and others on the premises and in the immediate surroundings of the schools, by augmenting safety measures for pedestrians and motorists within a kilometre from the school gate. This comes in the wake of 1,000 pedestrians losing their lives and many times the number sustaining serious injuries in road accidents across the State, including near educational institutions.
Student volunteers
“Ultimately, the aim is to usher in the concept of road safety among children. A day-long training programme will be held in each school, following which around 50 student volunteers and a couple of teacher coordinators will be identified, to take the project ahead,” said Samson Mathew, Director of Natpac. If needed, a traffic drill will be organised, while safety-related issues will be audited and entrusted to the agency concerned (like PWD) for remedial action, he added.
The list of 100 mainly government-run schools was finalised from that of over 200 schools that Natpac submitted to KRSA.
Three components
The ‘Safe Road to School’ project has three main components, said T. Elangovan, the Executive Director of KRSA. “The foremost is ‘school- zone treatment’ as part of road engineering, wherein road markings, sign boards to warn of a school in the vicinity, footpaths and allied infra will be improved in a km of the road in front of each school. In addition, a slew of traffic-calming measures, including rumble strips and rows of reflective studs will be installed on the road, to warn motorists.”
The PWD (Roads wing) has been directed to step up safety in the vicinity of 50 of the 100 schools as a pilot project. Safety measures similar to those on the Kazhakuttam-Adoor stretch of MC Road will be carried out in such locales.
Unsafe parking
Mr. Elangovan said all this would be supplemented by improved enforcement measures by MVD and police personnel. “Removal of vehicles parked in an unsafe manner will be a key area of focus, since they hamper traffic movement and act as ‘blind spots’ for pedestrians.”
There would be a plan of to step up safety measures within the school compound and outside. They include awareness on administering first aid and on safe walking practices – the need to steer clear of blind spots while crossing a road and to improve ones visibility by wearing bright clothes. Reflective stickers on school bags and bicycles will further the cause of road safety. A sum of ₹50,000 will be given to each school to improve safety measures, including by installing CCTVs, from the road-safety fund, it is learnt.
