Bhupalpally: The‘National Road Safety Month’ programme begain under the leadership of District Transport Officer Mohammad Sandhani, here, on Saturday

Speaking on the occasion, the DTO said that although India ranks fourth among developing countries in overall development, unfortunately it stands first in terms of road accidents. A road safety programme was held on Saturday, and he noted that despite road widening, accidents have increased significantly because the number of vehicles has grown substantially.

He stated that in 2024 there were about 4,80,000 road accidents nationwide, of which 1,70,000 people died; many others were seriously injured and became disabled. “About 80% of the total road accident victims were youth, mostly aged 18 to 45, who are the primary earners supporting families,” he said.

He explained that the deaths of young people in road accidents cause an annual loss of about 3.14% of GDP to the country.

As part of the programme, the Central government is implementing the Rah Veer scheme. He clarified that the government provides a cash incentive of Rs 25,000 to those who quickly transport injured accident victims to hospital and save lives, and that there will be no legal hassles for such rescuers.

The event was attended by Transport Department AMVI Sundar Lal, Srinivas, and staff.