Abstract

The study aims to examine the efficacy of media communication campaigns for safer roads in southern Punjab of Pakistan. The study employed quantitative methodology and chose a sample of 500 respondents by dividing them into 250 males and 250 females by using convenient sampling. The study analyzed the efficacy of the communication campaigns by law enforcement agencies especially the motorway police for the life safety of the road users. The study concluded that road safety was a general phenomenon and everyone commuting on roads has the right and responsibility of safety. The study concluded that over 60 per cent of males and females were of the opinion that safety helmets should be the mandatory component for all motorcyclists. The study found that all the relevant stakeholders should devise a collective strategy for road safety by involving motorcyclists, drivers of all vehicles, unions, the transport department, police and other persons. This study may open new avenues for the researchers in future to explore phenomena with a broader perspective.

Key Words

Community Campaigns, Quantitative Approach, Road Safety, Southern Punjab, Safety Helmet

Introduction

Pakistan contains over 215 million populations, out of which, around 76 people are inhabitants of the urban and city areas. Almost every house in Pakistan has a sad story of confronting a traffic accident in their past life (Farooqi et al., 2020). The phenomena of traffic accidents were not new for both, developed and developing nations (Raihan, Hossain, & Hasan, 2017). However, there is a massive difference in approach towards dealing with traffic accidents. For instance, developed nations consider it a traffic crash wherein most of the developing nations label it as a 'destiny' or the fate of the victim. Therefore, almost seventy per cent of traffic accidents are taken place in developing nations where only thirty per cent of vehicles are found. Contrary to this statistic, merely thirty per cent of traffic crashes are reported in developed nations wherein around seventy per cent of vehicles are reported (Khan, Zaidi, & Ali, 2020). 

Pakistan also falls in the graph of the developing nations and road safety is believed to be the neglected area in our country. According to a study, around 14 thousand persons are reported to have died during these road traffic crashes every year in Pakistan (Mohammed, Ambak, Mosa, & Syamsunur, 2019). Pakistan has a long history of introducing laws to avert such a pinching situation. For example, the Motor Vehicles Act was introduced in 1939, which was amended afterwards by the National Assembly of Pakistan in June 1965 and was renamed the [West] Pakistan Motor Vehicles Ordinance (McDermott, Gordon, Embree, Pritchett, & Dalton, 2014). Besides this, the Provincial Assembly of the Pakistani Punjab also introduced several laws including the Punjab Bus Stands & the Traffic Control Ordinance and others as well. Multiple districts of the Province also amended the same law and adopted it at divisional and district levels. During a PMLN-Led federal government in 2015, the Provincial Government enacted the PMTA in 2015. This law was introduced to provide legal shelter to the new traffic system of mass transit projects launched by the provincial government in collaboration with the Ankara-Turkish government (Deen, 2015). The Punjab Transport Department of Punjab also established a separate authority. On the pattern of the Local Emergency Management Authority (LEMA) system of the developed nations, the Provincial Government of Punjab also established such traffic authorities at the regional level called DRTA (Shakeri, Vizvari, & Nazerian, 2021). 

There are multiple stakeholders in the traffic management system and accident control mechanism in Pakistan. For instance, the Police Service of Pakistan, the Punjab Police, the Transport Department of Punjab, Rescue 1122, Civil Defence, and National Highways and Motorways Police (NHMP) are believed to be the main organizations, which were playing pivotal roles in controlling traffic crashes on the roads in the province. The NHMP is believed to be the key stakeholder in controlling traffic accidents on the main arteries of the country especially in Punjab with a special focus on the Southern belt. In addition to the Punjab Transport Department, the Traffic Police Department was established in 1991 considering it a major component of the Punjab Police for controlling traffic crashes on national highways. Later on, a separate City Traffic Police was established in major cities of Punjab including Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Multan and Gujranwala to deal with traffic systems including vehicular activities and road crashes. Now, it seems there are multiple departments both at provincial and district levels which have the mandate to control vehicular activities and traffic crashes in Punjab (Bisht & Tiwari, 2022; Mujtaba & Chohan, 2022).

Literature Review

According to available literature, there is a global transport agenda of the developed nations to deal with traffic crashes. The world nations believed that safe mobility was the basic and fundamental right of every citizen in addition to responsibility as well. The world nations have established a detailed and comprehensive infrastructure management system which enjoys the mandate to safeguard the passengers travelling on roads. Despite all the preventive measures of the global world, traffic crashes were believed to be the 9th worldwide leading cause of death in 2010 and the point jumped to 5th position in 2020. According to a study, most of the traffic crashes taking place in rural areas go unreported because of a lack of reporting infrastructure, therefore, southern areas of the Punjab remain less highlighted in the mainstream media as well. These traffic crashes become the leading cause of fatalities in families where the sole breadwinner becomes a victim of these crashes (Organization, 2015; Yousif, Sadullah, & Kassim, 2020). 

According to a study, road safety was the biggest challenge for the developed nation and the first world countries have introduced various mechanisms for road safety (Nazif-Munoz, Quesnel-Vallée, & van den Berg, 2021). Besides enacting infrastructure, the developed countries have focused on creating awareness content for education of the commuters on roads. Different government agencies and departments have introduced 'communication awareness campaigns' which have the mandate to be sensitive about road safety and educate them about traffic crashes as well. Government agencies in Western countries have hired communication experts, and advertisers, developing digital content and training commuters for road safety. According to a study, law enforcement agencies have focused on building / moulding attitudes of the commuters by empowering them with adequate knowledge and road safety, traffic injuries and rehabilitation of the victims of traffic crashes. According to a study, every house in the southern Punjab of the Pakistani province of Punjab was the victim of road safety during the last decade. The study revealed the people residing in the southern belt was less educated about road safety because of a lack of awareness mechanism. According to the findings of the study, the people are less economically empowered; therefore, they seldom travel on motorways. However, the study showed that most of the trucks and bus drivers driving on national highways belonged to rural areas; accordingly, they have minimal knowledge about traffic laws and road safety. The literature review revealed that every citizen desires to have a safe journey but the same was unaware about the road safety laws. Therefore, the country was confronted with inadequate knowledge of road safety thus their attitude was non-resilient towards traffic crashes. The country can only progress once the law enforcement agencies jointly launch projects for road safety thus causing a massive impact on the socio-economic infrastructure of the country (Bonnet, Lechat, & Ridde, 2018). The literature review revealed that Pakistan has been facing serious problems with road safety in various parts of the country, especially in the rural areas of different provinces. Law enforcement agencies can play a vital role in enforcement of the traffic laws, rules and regulations.




Knowledge Gap

The literature review for the study in hand established that different research studies have been conducted on the subject under discussion with various lenses of road safety. The review of literature has further established that the Western or the developed nations have chalked out comprehensive mechanisms for road safety starting from enactment of road safety laws to educating people to prevent traffic crashes. In Pakistan, the researchers of the social sciences have shown the least interest in carrying out academic research pertaining to communication campaigns for education of the commuters regarding road safety. Therefore, the research in hand would further broaden the spectrum of road safety, prevention of traffic crashes and education of the commuters in Punjab with a special focus on the southern belt of the province. This study may also open new avenues for thinking to educate drivers of buses, trucks and other vehicles to adopt and self-implement the procedures for traffic crashes, thus paving the way towards road safety.




Problem Statement

Globally, it has been estimated that around 518 USD are consumed on the medicolegal treatment of the victims of road traffic crashes every year. Different studies have established that 70-80 per cent of traffic accidents are reported in Pakistan where the sole breadwinner of the society falls prey to these crashes (Onyemaechi & Ofoma, 2016). Accordingly, the entire socio-economic structure of the complete family collapses altogether. Therefore, there is a dire need to chalk out and adopt a comprehensive mechanism of road safety ranging from introducing new traffic laws to their strict implementation for making roads safe to travel in Pakistan. The traffic crashes are taken for granted by most of the citizens in Pakistan both in urban and rural areas while considering them as individual cases. Such ignorant behaviour is inflicting severe damage to the entire socio-economic structure of Pakistan. The researchers have tried to investigate this problem.




Significance of the Study

It is commonly believed that drivers' stubbornness often causes damage during road crashes. This is considered the most inflicting contributory element for massive traffic crashes in the southern belt of Punjab. In order to change this behaviour and mould their attitude, road traffic communication campaigns can play a vital role in road safety in Pakistan. These campaigns can be positively helpful for enhancing knowledge of the drivers, changing their attitudes and pressing them to adopt such practices which may not only safeguard their lives but shall also lead towards socio-economic stability as well. This study enjoys significance in terms of scholarly work on road crashes and efficacy of the communication in southern Punjab of Pakistan especially to gauge their effects on the commuters' and drivers' behaviour. This study has also provided a comprehensive framework for road safety and the effects of implementing traffic laws. This study has focused on the life safety problem besides providing its solution as well.




Research Objectives

The following objectives have been chosen to achieve: -

1) To examine the leading reasons for traffic crashes in the Southern Belt of the Punjab.  

2) To examine the significance of media/communication campaigns for safer roads launched by the Motorways Police in Southern Punjab.




Research Questions

1. What are the leading causes of road safety in Southern Punjab?

2. What are the effects of the communication campaigns for road safety by the Motorways Police in Punjab?

Social Learning Theory

The research in hand employed Social Learning Theory as it seemed the most appropriate theoretical framework for the study at hand. According to the teachings of this theory, one's learning process was always directly linked to the overall environmental behaviour from where an individual or collective behaviour of the society emerges. Skinner believed he learnt a particular form of learning behavior whereas political analyst Noam Chomsky refuted this stance. According to Chomsky, particular behaviour cannot be extracted from collective behaviour. This argument gave birth to a cognitive revolution in the field of psychology. This theory, however, has quite meagre effects on mass media. Different social and mass media scientists adopted different stances and arguments about this theory. For instance, Albert Bandura believed social learning behaviour can be derived from different phenomena e.g., verbal direction [instruction], live model, motivation, retention and reproduction of the message (Knight, 2010).

This study is directly linked with the social learning theory because the attitude of the drivers on roads is definitely influenced by different stakeholders of the society including government departments, legislators, road infrastructure, buses, trucks, other vehicles, traffic police, law enforcement agencies and most of the important are always the road users. Therefore, this theory may guide us to know how drivers develop their behaviour of driving when they commute on national highways and motorways in Pakistan with regard to a special focus on the southern belt of the province. This theory further develops a linkage with the learning process of the drivers on roads either they mould their attitude and express positive behaviour for road and life safety or they exhibit negative attitude. The researchers have given a special focus on various stimuli of the learning process of the drivers and their effects on road and life safety on roads (Nazir, Nadeem, & Véronneau, 2016).

Research Methodology

The researchers have employed quantitative methodology for this study as the study in hand discusses a general phenomenon of the efficacy of communication campaigns for education and attitude building of the drivers in southern Punjab of Pakistan. Thus, the findings of this study can be generalized to rural commuters of the country. An exploratory approach has been adopted to examine the behaviour of the drivers, driving environment, attitudes, behaviour and outcomes of the behaviour as well.




Universe of the Study

Overall 'road users' of Pakistan have been taken as the universe of this study because everyone in Pakistan uses roads in one way or the other therefore it is quite a general phenomenon for all commuters. The national highways and motorways are open for everyone to travel and use the roads; therefore, everyone has been taken as the universe of the study.




The Population of the Study

There are 40 districts in the Province of 

Pakistan. The researchers, however, have selected the districts of Southern Punjab to carry out this study. Therefore, only Khanewal, Multan, Lodhran, Bahawalpur and Rahim Yar Khan have been selected as the population of this study. In fact, the researchers have chosen these districts because most of the population in these districts is considered a rural population and such population uses roads for travelling and shifting their luggage from one city or locale to other parts of the country. So, the researchers considered them the most appropriate respondents for this study.




Sample Size

The researchers chose overall 500 respondents for this study and divided them into 250 literate and 250 uneducated or illiterate citizens based on the equal allocation method of the research. These citizens were considered to travel on roads in the Southern belt of the province.

Data Analysis

The researchers have chosen various variables including age, education, gender and locale in order to measure the attitudes, knowledge and general practices of the road users. A survey study was designed for this objective carrying 35 close-ended questions based on a 5-point Likert Scale. The researchers also adopted convenient sampling and analyzed the data with the help of cross-tabulation.




 

 

Table 1

Chi-Square Test

	Value	Df	Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square	1.903a	4	.754
Likelihood Ratio	2.325	4	.676
Linear-by-Linear Association	.168	1	.682
N of Valid Cases	500
a. 3 cells (30.0%) have an expected count of less than 5. The minimum expected count is .44.

 




According to the Chi-Square Test, a strong correlation coefficient value was ascertained that further confirmed a positive relationship between different research items. In quantitative research, the reliability of data was endorsed by the consistency of research items in addition to high inter consistency between different research items.




 

 

Table 2

Crosstab

			Poor road infrastructure is the main cause of traffic accidents					Total
			Strongly Agreed	Agreed	Moderate	Disagreed	Strongly Disagreed
Gender of Participants	Male	Expected Count	239.5	124.0	19.5	5.5	1.6	390.0
		% within Gender of Participants	62.3%	31.0%	4.6%	1.5%	0.5%	100.0%
	Female	Expected Count	67.5	35.0	5.5	1.5	.4	110.0
		% within Gender of Participants	58.2%	34.5%	6.4%	0.9%	0.0%	100.0%
Total		Expected Count	307.0	159.0	25.0	7.0	2.0	500.0
		% within Gender of Participants	61.4%	31.8%	5.0%	1.4%	0.4%	100.0%

 




The analysis showed that a massive majority belonging to both genders were in favour of the opinion that poor infrastructure was the leading reason for traffic crashes. As per the table, most of the males believed that we have poor road infrastructure which was adding up causes to traffic accidents.




 

Table 3

Crosstab

			Usage of Mobile while driving is the main reason for traffic crashes					Total
			Strongly Agreed	Agreed	Moderate	Disagreed	Strongly Disagreed
Gender of Participants	Male	Expected Count	182.5	166.1	29.6	6.2	5.5	390.0
		% within Gender of Participants	46.7%	41.8%	8.7%	1.0%	1.8%	100.0%
	Female	Expected Count	51.5	46.9	8.4	1.8	1.5	110.0
		% within Gender of Participants	47.3%	45.5%	3.6%	3.6%	0.0%	100.0%
Total		Expected Count	234.0	213.0	38.0	8.0	7.0	500.0
		% within Gender of Participants	46.8%	42.6%	7.6%	1.6%	1.4%	100.0%

 




Around 46.7 per cent male population strongly agreed, 41.8 per cent of respondents agreed, accordingly 47.5 per cent of female respondents strongly agreed, 45.5 per cent of females agreed, 3.6 per cent of females were moderate and only 3.6 per cent of female citizens disagreed with the abovementioned statement. So, overall the majority of the population believed that the usage of mobile while driving was quite dangerous to human life.




 

Table 4

Crosstab

			I think poor road engineering, negligence of the driver and mechanical faults in the vehicle are the main components of traffic accidents in Punjab					Total
			Strongly Agreed	Agreed	Moderate	Disagreed	Strongly Disagreed
Gender of Participants	Male	Expected Count	135.7	188.0	53.8	9.4	3.1	390.0
		% within Gender of Participants	35.4%	47.7%	13.8%	2.1%	1.0%	100.0%
	Female	Expected Count	38.3	53.0	15.2	2.6	.9	110.0
		% within Gender of Participants	32.7%	50.0%	13.6%	3.6%	0.0%	100.0%
Total		Expected Count	174.0	241.0	69.0	12.0	4.0	500.0
		% within Gender of Participants	34.8%	48.2%	13.8%	2.4%	0.8%	100.0%

 




According to the table, 35.4 per cent male population strongly agreed and 47.7 per cent of respondents agreed, 13.8 per cent of citizens found it moderate and only 2.1 per cent of citizens were found disagreed that poor road engineering, mechanical fault and the fault of the driver of various vehicles were also the main reason of traffic crashes in Southern Punjab. Moreover, 32.7 per cent of female citizenry also strongly agreed, 50 per cent of female respondents agreed and only 13.6 per cent of female citizens disagreed and only 3.6 per cent strongly disagreed with the above-said statement. So, the massive majority of the male population in addition to the female population endorsed the statement.




 

Table 5

Crosstab

			The media plays an imperative role in imparting education among the public particularly drivers about safer roads					Total
			Strongly Agreed	Agreed	Moderate	Disagreed	Strongly Disagreed
Gender of Participants	Male	Expected Count	94.4	118.6	86.6	68.6	21.8	390.0
		% within Gender of Participants	23.3%	31.5%	22.6%	17.4%	5.1%	100.0%
	Female	Expected Count	26.6	33.4	24.4	19.4	6.2	110.0
		% within Gender of Participants	27.3%	26.4%	20.9%	18.2%	7.3%	100.0%
Total		Expected Count	121.0	152.0	111.0	88.0	28.0	500.0
		% within Gender of Participants	24.2%	30.4%	22.2%	17.6%	5.6%	100.0%

 




According to the data, 23.3 per cent male population strongly agreed, 31.5 per cent of males agreed, and 22.6 per cent of male citizenry was found moderate in their opinion that media was playing a quite positive role in imparting education among the general public particularly drivers about safer roads. Likewise, 27.3 per cent of females strongly agreed, 26.4 per cent agreed, 20.9 per cent gave a moderate opinion, 18.2 per cent of females disagreed and only 7.3 per cent female population strongly disagreed with the aforementioned statement. So, it can be said that the female population refuted the above statement.




 

Table 6

Crosstab

			Poor enforcement of traffic laws is the chief reason for traffic crashes in Southern Punjab						Total
			Strongly Agreed	Agreed	Moderate	Disagreed	Strongly Disagreed	11
Gender of Participants	Male	Expected Count	234.0	116.2	25.7	9.4	3.9	.8	390.0
		% within Gender of Participants	59.2%	30.8%	5.6%	3.1%	1.3%	0.0%	100.0%
	Female	Expected Count	66.0	32.8	7.3	2.6	1.1	.2	110.0
		% within Gender of Participants	62.7%	26.4%	10.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.9%	100.0%
Total		Expected Count	300.0	149.0	33.0	12.0	5.0	1.0	500.0
		% within Gender of Participants	60.0%	29.8%	6.6%	2.4%	1.0%	0.2%	100.0%

 




According to the data, 59.2 per cent of male respondents strongly agreed, 30.8 per cent of male citizens agreed with addition to female including 62.7 per cent strongly admitted and 26.4 per cent of female respondents agreed that poor implementation and weak enforcement of traffic laws in the country was the main reason of traffic crashes in Southern Punjab.




 

Table 7

Crosstab

			Road Safety communication campaigns are very important for life safety					Total
			Strongly Agreed	Agreed	Moderate	Disagreed	Strongly Disagreed
Gender of Participants	Male	Expected Count	227.0	120.9	34.3	6.2	1.6	390.0
		% within Gender of Participants	57.4%	31.8%	8.5%	1.8%	0.5%	100.0%
	Female	Expected Count	64.0	34.1	9.7	1.8	.4	110.0
		% within Gender of Participants	60.9%	28.2%	10.0%	0.9%	0.0%	100.0%
Total		Expected Count	291.0	155.0	44.0	8.0	2.0	500.0
		% within Gender of Participants	58.2%	31.0%	8.8%	1.6%	0.4%	100.0%

 




According to the data given above, a huge majority of 57.4 per cent of males strongly agreed, 31.8 per cent males agreed and 8.5 per cent male citizenry was found moderate, likewise, 60.9 per cent female citizens strongly agreed and 28.2 per cent agreed that communication campaigns that impart education among the citizens can definitely play a vital role for spreading education and awareness of the road safety.




 

Table 8

Crosstab

			Road safety communication campaigns contain life-safety messages necessary to save human lives					Total
			Strongly Agreed	Agreed	Moderate	Disagreed	Strongly Disagreed
Gender of Participants	Male	Expected Count	230.1	113.1	33.5	9.4	3.9	390.0
		% within Gender of Participants	57.9%	29.7%	9.0%	2.1%	1.3%	100.0%
	Female	Expected Count	64.9	31.9	9.5	2.6	1.1	110.0
		% within Gender of Participants	62.7%	26.4%	7.3%	3.6%	0.0%	100.0%
Total		Expected Count	295.0	145.0	43.0	12.0	5.0	500.0
		% within Gender of Participants	59.0%	29.0%	8.6%	2.4%	1.0%	100.0%

 




According to the data, 57.9 per cent of male respondents were found strongly agreed, 29.7 per cent agreed, and 9 per cent population was moderate wherein 62.7 per cent of female respondents strongly agreed, 26.4 per cent of females agreed, 7.3 per cent of females were found moderate in their opinion that road safety communication campaigns truly depict the road safety messages, which were necessary to save human lives on roads. The data analysis showed that the majority of the population considered road safety communication campaigns helpful for the safety of human life.




Table 9

Crosstab

			Communication campaigns for safer roads contain a meaningful impact on drivers' attitude					Total
			Strongly Agreed	Agreed	Moderate	Disagreed	Strongly Disagreed
Gender of Participants	Male	Expected Count	145.1	137.3	81.9	19.5	6.2	390.0
		% within Gender of Participants	37.4%	36.4%	20.3%	4.4%	1.5%	100.0%
	Female	Expected Count	40.9	38.7	23.1	5.5	1.8	110.0
		% within Gender of Participants	36.4%	30.9%	23.6%	7.3%	1.8%	100.0%
Total		Expected Count	186.0	176.0	105.0	25.0	8.0	500.0
		% within Gender of Participants	37.2%	35.2%	21.0%	5.0%	1.6%	100.0%

 




According to the data, overall, the majority from both genders including males and females gave positive opinions with regard to the quite positive impact on drivers' attitudes in the wake of communication campaigns for safer roads in Southern Punjab.




 

Table 10

Crosstab

			Drivers change their attitude and behave more lawfully after being exposed to road safety communication campaigns					Total
			Strongly Agreed	Agreed	Moderate	Disagreed	Strongly Disagreed
Gender of Participants	Male	Expected Count	138.1	114.7	86.6	37.4	13.3	390.0
		% within Gender of Participants	36.4%	27.9%	21.8%	10.0%	3.8%	100.0%
	Female	Expected Count	38.9	32.3	24.4	10.6	3.7	110.0
		% within Gender of Participants	31.8%	34.5%	23.6%	8.2%	1.8%	100.0%
Total		Expected Count	177.0	147.0	111.0	48.0	17.0	500.0
		% within Gender of Participants	35.4%	29.4%	22.2%	9.6%	3.4%	100.0%

 




As per data, 36.4 per cent of male respondents strongly agreed, 27.9 per cent agreed, 21.8 per cent of male respondents were found neutral, wherein 31.8 per cent of female respondents strongly agreed and 34.5 per cent of female citizenry agreed and 23.6 per cent of female respondents gave the moderate opinion that the drivers changed their attitude and behaved more lawfully after they were exposed to road safety communication campaigns.

Findings

The study found that most of the respondents agreed with most of the statements considering that communication campaigns were vital for life safety on roads. The study found that the southern belt of the province of Punjab was deprived off in term of resources, facilities and basic infrastructure like hospitals, schools, colleges, hospitals and road infrastructure. The study found that the Motorways Police was aggressively working on the education of the commuters. The motorways police launched several communication campaigns thus providing basic knowledge to mould the driving attitude of the drivers commuting on the roads in the southern belt and other areas of the city. According to the comparison of the four variables included in this study, almost every respondent along with all demographic backgrounds revealed that motorway police was playing a key role in the enforcement of road and life safety laws. According to the findings, the communication campaigns launched by various stakeholders of road safety were playing a key role in public awareness in Pakistan, especially in the southern belt. The major cause of drivers' stubbornness was found illiteracy. The drivers showcased irresponsible behaviour which proved to be the lethal source of traffic crashes, injuries and fatalities during road crashes. 

The study found that around 60 per cent of males and above 63 per cent of females population believed that poor and weak enforcement of traffic laws was the major cause of traffic crashes in southern Punjab. Likewise, the study found that the respondents strongly agreed that the fogy season was the most dangerous season for traffic accidents in the southern belt. The study found that drivers of buses, trucks and other vehicles must display side mirrors to guide other commuters while driving. The study found that law enforcement agencies and television channels should also air safety messages like weather conditions and other issues during driving. According to findings, 71 per cent of respondents agreed that overspeeding generally creates thrills among them but it ends with killing the drivers or the road users. As per the analysis of the data, the study found that definitely, the motorway police was playing a pivotal role in awareness among the general public. The drivers should also follow safety guidelines in rural areas including the southern belt of the Punjab and should also abide by other laws for road safety. The study found that foggy season was always dangerous for road users including drivers but communication campaigns should be launched to reduce danger during such season.

Conclusion

The study concludes that road usage was a general phenomenon and everyone has the right to travel with responsibility. The study concluded that safety helmet was the guarantee of reducing fatality on the city's roads. A safety helmet was helpful for individual safety while motorbike riding. The study concluded that most of the female respondents opinionated that Motorways Police was one the major players in road safety and accidents control on the national motorways. Furthermore, the study concluded that community radio stations of the city traffic police and motorways were creating general awareness among the public about road safety. The study further concluded that all the relevant stakeholders can play a due role in devising collective and comprehensive mechanisms for road safety. The study concluded that drivers often change their behaviour when they are exposed to road safety messages and written material, advertisements, safety messages on television screens and radio messages can play effective roles for creating awareness among the general public.

Suggestions and Recommendations

The researchers have made the following suggestions and recommendations keeping in view the study in hand: - 

1. All the City Traffic Police in all major districts should make it a regular component to create general awareness of life safety among road users. 

2. The Motorways Police should expand its infrastructure all over the country and be in close liaison with the national highways; the road safety structure should be developed and launched forthwith for life safety. 

3. The relevant police department, transport department and other road safety organizations should jointly carry out comprehensive mechanisms for road safety i.e., road safety campaigns including life safety messages, life safety trainings and drills for saving life. 

4. Future researchers should carry out research with a mixed method approach, quantitative and qualitative approach to explore the phenomenon at the national level. 

5. It is further recommended that multiple studies should be conducted in future with different approaches by involving multiple stakeholders including drivers, law enforcement personnel, legislators, police, transport department and the general public to extract amicable and doable solutions.  

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