Use of cell phones during driving

Published December 19, 2008

This is with reference to Dr Fatema Jawad`s letter (Dec 13) expressing her concerns about the damage that ever increasing use of cell phones during driving is bringing to road users and the whole community in a broader sense.

Dr Soorma`s incident is one that has come to light, but there are many that go unnoticed and nobody ever knows how many precious lives are lost every day on our roads and highways.

Punjab Government in the recent past has revived and revamped the traffic police with new inductions, better equipment, new uniforms and much more.

What is still missing is enforcement. Violations by the road user right under the nose of standing police personnel are a common sight on the roads.

This is the basic reason why this particular traffic violation (use of cell phones during driving) and many others, are on the rise exponentially.

In addition to a demand for formulating stringent rules by the lawmakers, there is a dire need of strict enforcement and ruthless actions against the violators.

Traffic police departments and NGOs should run an aggressive media campaign to educate the road users about the traffic rules and and create awareness on the consequences of violations to prevent homicides as that of Dr Soorma.

NOOR US SABAH

Lahore

(II)

I REQUEST all drama writers and producers not to promote the culture of using cellphone while driving as it is a severe traffic violation.

MOHAMMAD ARIF

Karachi

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