Islamabad - Traffic accidents have taken three times more lives in Pakistan than terrorism, according to the officials of National Highway & Motorway Police.

Annually, over 1.2 million people worldwide lose their lives due to road accidents while, in Pakistan, traffic accidents cause yearly casualties of 14000 to 15000. The statement was made at an awareness session on the importance of traffic rules’ compliance which was organized by the National Highway & Motorway Police (NH&MP) in collaboration with Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry at the Chamber House. The purpose of the session was to educate the business community on the importance of traffic rules to help avoid road accidents.

Addressing the business community, Tashfeen Nawaz, Senior Patrol Officer, National Highway & Motorway Police (NH&MP) said that traffic accidents have taken three times more lives in the country than terrorism. In view of this situation, there was a need for enhanced awareness among the public about importance of traffic rules’ compliance in order to avoid accidents. He said that things had improved with the efforts of Motorway Police, but there was scope for greater improvement on this account.

According to a 2016 report, 3300 children died in front of schools due to accidents.

He stressed that parents should educate their children about precautionary measures while crossing roads while traffic education should be made a part of school curricula. According to a research study, 90 percent accidents in Pakistan occurred due to driver’s mistake while only 5 percent occurred due to road condition and the remaining 5 percent due to vehicle condition.

He asked the business community to cooperate in spreading the awareness of traffic rules for educating maximum people.

Speaking at the occasion, Sheikh Amir Waheed, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry said that developed nations ensured disciplined driving by enforcing strict compliance of traffic rules. He lauded the initiative of National Highway & Motorway Police for launching awareness campaign on traffic rules and added that this campaign should be spread throughout the country.

Muhammad Naveed Malik Senior Vice President, Nisar Mirza Vice President ICCI, Khalid Chaudhry, Baber Chaudhry, Asher Hafeez and others also spoke at the occasion and assured of their cooperation to motorway police in promoting traffic rules compliance in respective communities.