Stop drink driving, officer says

 By PHILEMON TAME, Journalism student

THE National Road Safety Council and traffic officers in Western Highlands conducted a public awareness about traffic rules in Mt Hagen last Wednesday.

Officer-in-charge Betty Pogo said the awareness campaign was to ensure that Christmas was accident-free on the roads.

She said road accidents in the province was gradually reduced after they began awareness on road safety rules this year.

“We carry out this awareness because we are concerned about innocent lives lost (on the roads) and we do not want that to happen again,” she said.

Highway patrol officer, Danry Karaip said drivers must follow simple traffic rules.

“Vehicles loading cargo and people must be mindful of the maximum limits they are allowed as overloading causes accident and will be dealt with accordingly,” Karaip said.

“Those speeding and driving while drunk must stop because this is the peak part of the year when we have a high volume of travelling which increases the risk of accidents.”

Karaip said children were on holidays and many become victims of road accidents.

“A bigger proportion of loss of lives fall between the productive ages of 18 to 40 years, which is an unjustified loss to our country,” he said.

The branch manager of Motor Vehicle Insurance, Alice Paraka said they bought uniforms for traffic officers.