• The signage showed "school ahead" but a bus driver read it as "a sharp bend"

• "Men at work" became "dead end"

Esplanade: Drivers of public and private transport seemed confused about basic traffic signage at a Calcutta police workshop on Friday.

Some 50 men, who drive government and private buses, taxis, app cabs and private cars, took part in the workshop.

One of the sessions involved a fun test with boards displaying traffic signage. The drivers were given chits of paper - each with a written version of a signal - and asked to pin the paper to the corresponding sign on the board.

Several drivers got most of the signals right but some goofed up in the mesh of no honking, no entry and no U-turn.

A bus driver, who has been at the wheel for more than a decade, put the no- parking chit on a sign indicating no entry for goods vehicles. A cab driver confused a no U-turn sign with men at work.

"It was a fun session meant to raise awareness about traffic signage. We will conduct more such sessions in the coming days," said an officer of the headquarters traffic guard, which had organised the workshop.

From overspeeding to jumping signals, traffic violation is rampant on the streets of Calcutta. Errant drivers contributed to several of the 329 road deaths in the city last year, according to Calcutta police.

Traffic officers blame the ill-governed driving schools that have mushroomed in and around the city for some of the reckless driving. A recent government study found that at least a fifth of the driving schools in Calcutta lacked basic facilities.

Calcutta police have suspended around 94 driving licences in the past year for alleged rash driving that resulted in fatal accidents.

Road accidents in Calcutta are known to claim more lives than violence and natural calamities, city police commissioner Rajeev Kumar had said at a traffic event in 2016 to drive home the point that getting a driving licence should be harder than obtaining a passport.

Friday's workshop at the Rangers' Club in Esplanade was also attended by students from 10 schools who painted posters and wrote slogans to raise traffic awareness.

"Life does not have a reset button. Drive safe," read one poster. "Care for your head. Not everyone gets a replacement," read another with a painting of Ganesha below.