Accident survivors, doctors appeal to public to follow road traffic rules

Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) has come out with a road safety awareness video, in which accident survivors and doctors highlight the consequences of not following traffic rules.

In the video, Vijay from Tharamangalam in Salem narrates how negligence to traffic rules made him suffer severe bone and blood vessel injuries in an accident in Erode on January 1. He underwent major surgeries at CMCH and survived the accident.

“This situation happened to me because I did not follow traffic rules. I request everyone to strictly follow the rules,” says Mr. Vijay.

Another accident survivor, Rahumurthy, 40, from Vazhapadi in Salem, recalls how he sustained critical bone and blood vessel injuries in a road accident involving a lorry as he failed to follow traffic rules. His lower limbs had to be amputated below the knee to save his life.

S. Vetrivel Chezian, Director of the Institute of Orthopaedics and Traumatology at CMCH, points out that  in most cases of fractures due to road traffic accidents, it takes three to six months for the affected persons to recover from injuries. Many accident victims are breadwinners from middle-class or lower-income families. Though government hospitals provide quality treatment and save lives, the families continue to face financial and emotional hardship. “If we truly value our family, we must follow traffic rules,” he adds.

CMCH Dean M. Geethanjali said that road traffic accidents claimed the lives of over one lakh people every year in the country and Tamil Nadu ranked second among the States. Road traffic accident deaths were alarmingly high in Coimbatore, she said and appealed to the public to follow traffic rules and make Coimbatore an accident-free city.