This story is from December 26, 2013

Trucks may turn serious messengers

If the transport ministry has its way, some of the bumper lines and couplets painted on the rear side of trucks and commercial vehicles that commuters enjoyed for years may get replaced by flat messages to make roads safe.
Trucks may turn serious messengers
NEW DELHI: If the transport ministry has its way, some of the bumper lines and couplets painted on the rear side of trucks and commercial vehicles that commuters enjoyed for years may get replaced by flat messages to make roads safe.
The popular lines like "buri nazar wale tera mooh kala" and humorous "has mat pagli pyaar ho jaaega" may be replaced with messages against drink driving, speeding and unsafe overtaking.
The proposal mooted at a meeting convened by the road transport ministry on Tuesday was backed by country's one of the major truckers bodies AIMTC.
About 29,600 people lost lives in road crashes involving trucks and buses in 2012 and government data shows that in 78% accident cases, drivers were at fault.
The recent proposal can be seen as an Aam Admi Party (AAP) effect, which used autorickshaws in Delhi to popularize its symbol in little time. A senior ministry official told the stakeholders at the meeting that slogans and advertisements placed behind vehicles are seen the most by commuters and drivers.
AIMTC office bearers said that the proposal can be easily implemented if the government issues an advisory. "When trucks go for renewal of annual fitness certificates, they have to comply with norms. If the ministry can advise some messages that trucks can paint, we can take the task ahead," said one of the AIMTC office bearers.
Though at present painting anything barring "National Permit" is the liberty of truckers, experts said the government can take gradual steps of issuing advisories and subsequently coming out with mandatory norms. "The ministry can issue notification under the Central Motor Vehicle Rules specifying what should be written and what is prohibitory. We can make a beginning to spread messages for responsible driving," said S P Singh of IFTRT, an advocacy group.
He added that in 1970s all trucks had to carry messages on family planning when Sanjay Gandhi was at the helm of affairs. "The messages have to be small, crisp and should communicate clearly. There should not be too many," Singh said.
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