Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 4 LoP in the Keralam Assembly Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday alleged that the recent spate of road accidents involving youngsters driving cars, some of them fatal, was a consequence of the UDF undermining road safety and traffic regulations for political gains in the past.
Vijayan’s remarks in a Facebook post came amid a rise in incidents of youngsters driving at high speeds, sometimes under the influence of alcohol, and causing accidents in Keralam.
The former CM claimed that during the previous LDF government, several measures had been implemented to prevent road accidents and enforce traffic discipline.
The government had sought to prevent road fatalities by curbing dangerous vehicle modifications, installing artificial intelligence (AI)-powered cameras and conducting strict inspections, he said.
However, the UDF had ridiculed and opposed these measures for political gains and “let loose violators for sabotaging the safety systems”, he alleged.
Referring to accidents involving Mini Cooper and Mercedes-Benz cars, in which people were killed after the luxury vehicles were driven at high speeds by youngsters, as well as a more recent incident in which an allegedly intoxicated youth drove at high speed and collided with other vehicles, Vijayan claimed that such “terror” on the roads was the result of the “destruction of traffic norms for political gains”.
“Those who played politics at the cost of people’s lives are now shedding crocodile tears. Those who stood at the forefront of destroying traffic discipline in the past are responsible for the lives that are being lost on the roads today,” he said.
“Those who sacrificed the country’s road safety for cheap political gains must correct themselves and show sincerity in enforcing the law,” he added.
(PTI News)
