Chennai, Nov 30 (IANS) Road safety should be taught as part of school curriculum and cannot be just left to the government and the police to manage, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi said here Monday.
Inaugurating the two day national seminar on Road Safety and Urban Traffic Management here Monday, he said: “Road safety and traffic management should be part of the school curriculum and the children should be sensitised to this aspect through games and leisure time activities.”

On the other hand he called upon the traffic cops to be a problem solver on the roads rather than being a symbol of state authority.

“They must be involved and encouraged to take part while developing localised response for challenging traffic problems,” Karunanidhi added.

Expressing distress at 13 road accident deaths every hour in India on an average - the highest in the world - Karunanidhi said 32 percent of the calls received by the Emergency Management Services launched last year related to road accidents.

He said maximum importance should be attached to road engineering aspects like traffic design and road layout to reduce accidents.