The season of T-20 cricket may be over, but in Hyderabad T-20 games of another kind are underway. Anyone above 18 years of age can play the game and maybe take home a cup, though the T in this T-20 stands for ‘Traffic’.
In connection to the ongoing road safety awareness month, the Hyderabad Traffic Police has launched a new initiative to create awareness among motorists on traffic rules and road discipline to reduce accidents.
The department has set up workstations at the Traffic Training Institutes in Goshamahal and Begumpet, apart from the Traffic Control Room at its headquarters, where anyone interested can take the challenge. Those interested are posed with 20 questions, concerning road safety, rules and regulations, signs, and various kinds of road discipline, and given a minute to answer each of them. With 18 correct answers, one could win a ‘Traffic Cup’.
A T-20 Road Awareness Test App, similar to the desktop version, is soon to be rolled out on Google Playstore and Apple store enabling users to take the awareness test at their homes.
“The concept is to educate users and motivate them to be better road users. The questions range from traffic sense and sensibilities, and sensitivity towards pedestrians, other road users, or even animals,” said Wasey Ali Khan, a computer operator at the center set up at Traffic Control Room in Nampally.
For instance, “on a long motorway journey boredom can cause you to feel sleepy. You should…,” asks one of the questions with four options for an answer. Another question asks the user’s immediate reaction if an animal is crossing the road or pedestrians are walking beside a rainwater puddle.
K Mahesh, one of the youngsters caught for driving without a helmet and made to undergo the test on Tuesday afternoon, said questions were simple but thought-provoking. “You don’t think of such circumstances and while driving you do what you usually do out of habit. These questions make you think of those situations. More people should come forward voluntarily,” he said. “The question paper is available in three different sets and in English and Telugu. We are getting good responses from the users,” added Khan.
Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Hyderabad, Anil Kumar told indianexpress.com that the department has been working on developing the program and the mobile application for the last two months. “To be frank, a lot of people know just to drive. They do not have awareness about lane discipline, speed regulations, signboards, etc. Through this program, we are primarily looking at creating road safety awareness among those above 18 years. But once the app is online anyone can take the test,” said Kumar.
He said a link to the app, once up online, will be placed on the websites of Telangana Police and its related sites, apart from integrating the program to many other apps of Hyderabad city police. “This is only one of the many initiatives. We have virtual meetings with schoolchildren, awareness meetings, and counseling sessions for bus, autorickshaw, and cab drivers, as well as food delivery app executives regarding various aspects of road safety,” he added.
Given the road safety month, Home minister Md Mahmood Ali launched the initiative on January 18. The test centers at Traffic Control Room in Nampally as well as the Traffic Training Institute in Goshamahal and Begumpet will be open for public till February 17.
