ALWAYS ALERT, ACCIDENT AVERT: Police commissioner Prasun Mukherjee interacts with schoolchildren at the road safety camp. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

The city police chief on Monday came down on adults for the rise in the number of road accidents.

?Adults, strangely, seem to be the least bothered about traffic rules. They tend to cross busy roads, their children in tow, without bothering to check signals or traffic,? police commissioner Prasun Mukherjee said, while inaugurating a road safety week at the Park Circus seven-point crossing.

Calcutta, Mukherjee claimed, has the most indisciplined crowd compared with other metros. Elaborating on the various causes of accidents, he cited a few instances from his own experience.

?It happened a few days ago. A woman was driving a car down CIT Road. A 70-year-old man, without waiting for the traffic to stop, tried to cross the road and found himself dangerously close to the woman?s car. She somehow managed to stop in time. But her sudden slamming of the brakes made three cars hit hers from behind, and the man was injured under the impact of all four. The mishap could have been avoided had the person abided by the traffic rules,? Mukherjee recalled.

He sought to debunk the ?myth? that only uneducated pedestrians ignore rules and meet with accidents.

?I was plying though Park Street in my car recently. An elderly man stepped out of a bookstore and crossed the road through speeding traffic. He could have been hit by my car if my driver had not been prompt.?

Two major reasons for the rise in mishaps, Mukherjee pointed out, are rash driving and a tendency among a section of both drivers and pedestrians to ignore signals. To spread awareness about the need for observing road rules, police have decided to organise safety programmes throughout the year.

A third reason for the rise in the number of mishaps is the poor eyesight of some drivers. ?So, during the road safety week this year, we will run eye camps at Dhakuria, Park Circus and Maniktala.?

The authorities have also decided to open a second school, in Tallah Park, to train children in road safety rules. At present, there is only one such institute, in Park Circus, where children are trained throughout the year.