Dikhyaa Mohanty 
The state today launched the ‘Zero Fatality Fortnight’ to raise awareness about road safety and reduce road accident fatalities. The campaign began on World Remembrance Day for Road Traffic Victims and will continue until November 30. The inaugural event was held at the Driving Testing Track in Chandrasekharpur, Bhubaneswar, and was attended by Usha Padhee, Principal Secretary of the Commerce and Transport Department; Amitabh Thakur, Transport Commissioner; and Suresh Dev Datta Singh, Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Police Commissioner.
According to Principal Secretary Padhee, everyone is now deeply concerned about the number of lives lost in traffic accidents. She emphasized that every effort is being made by the administration to lessen these kinds of situations. However, she pointed out that collaborative action is necessary to reduce traffic accidents; government actions alone are insufficient. She called on everyone to support the effort to lower the number of traffic accidents.
The “Zero Fatality Fortnight” aims to reduce traffic accidents and create a society devoid of them. Such programs are implemented in order to accomplish that objective. Unnecessary deaths can be avoided if all users of the road, including drivers, follow traffic safety regulations.
Similarly, both the Transport Commissioner and the Police Commissioner expressed concern over the rising number of road accidents. They stated that awareness campaigns, coupled with strict enforcement, will be implemented to reduce these numbers. Over the next 15 days, Regional Transport Officers across the state will organise various programs in collaboration with district administrations, police departments, and other agencies.
Transport Commissioner Amitabh Thakur remarked that just as society protected itself during the COVID-19 pandemic by following rules, road accidents have now taken the form of an epidemic. To safeguard ourselves, we must prioritise adherence to traffic regulations.
According to Police Commissioner Suresh Dev Datta Singh, investigations into several traffic incidents show that they might have been prevented if drivers had not made mistakes. He emphasized that drivers do not take safety regulations as seriously as they need to and reminded everyone that breaking the law puts us at risk for accidents.
