To create road safety awareness, the Odisha State Transport Authority (STA) has used Sri Lankan cricketer Angelo Mathews controversial timed-out dismissal to stress the importance on the use of standard and certified helmets while driving on roads.
Mathews was given out timed out as he was not ready to face the first ball of his innings within the stipulated time of two minutes because the strap of his helmet was broken.
In the awareness post on X and Facebook about the importance of using helmets, the STA shared a post, "On field or off field……bad quality helmets can take your wicket." It has shared these words with two photos of the cricketer Angelo Mathews during the World Cup match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh played on November 6.
"#RoadSafety lesson from #CWC23….Don't throw away your wicket, play a consistent long innings. Always wear ISI certified helmet & tie the strap. Also, encourage pillion rider to do so. On Field or Off Field #SafetyFirst always!" the transport authority said in the social media post.
The post surfaced on the internet and people praised the creative approach of the transport authority.
Some users came up with hilarious remarks in the comment section as one user commented, "Even if we wear helmets, there would be accidents due to bad roads.
This was not the first time the STA has used such a creative approach on a current topic to create road safety awareness among the people. Earlier, it had used the blockbuster movies 'Baahubali', 'Pushpa' and 'RRR' to create awareness on the use of helmets.
As per the annual 'Road accidents in India' report released by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways recently, Odisha recorded 5,467 deaths in 11,663 accidents in 2022.
Among those, two-wheeler riders bore the brunt as 2,498 persons were killed in road accidents last year. Out of the 2498 deaths, 1795 people were killed due to non-use of helmets, the report said.
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