RAWALPINDI: In order to prevent road traffic accidents, City Traffic Police held an awareness workshop for the first time at traffic police headquarters for public service, tanker and heavy vehicle drivers on Monday. Chief Traffic Officer Beenish Fatima welcomed the heavy transport drivers on their arrival at the traffic headquarters. Addressing the ceremony, she said that the aim of this road safety awareness workshop is to prevent accidents and ensure the safety of precious lives. It also aims to reduce the distance between the traffic police and drivers so that the problems of the drivers who are always on the road can be solved. Drivers will also be made aware of obtaining a licence to eliminate the culture of recommendation, and also listen to the problems of drivers and take steps to provide solution. She added the biggest reason for accidents on the highways is lack of awareness about traffic rules. The carelessness of drivers and non-compliance with traffic rules result in the loss of citizens’ lives. The aim of this training workshop was to make Rawalpindi city safer and prevent accidents caused by heavy vehicles. According to the traffic accident statistics of the year 2024, most of the accidents in the city are caused by heavy vehicles, which cause loss of human lives and injure countless people annually, she said. CTO said that according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) report, 1.3 million people died in road accidents worldwide in a year, while 3,700 citizens were injured every day. However, the number of injuries in the last two years has been estimated at 10 to 50 million, and the number of people disabled in accidents is more than two million annually.