By Our Correspondent
Bhairahawa, Feb. 15: Dummy traffic police installed by the District Traffic Police Office, Rupandehi, is proving effective in traffic regulation. The dummies installed in three places of Bhairahawa have made the drivers as well as the pedestrians aware of the traffic rules.
Three busy road junctions -- Devkota Chowk, Buddha Chowk and Milan Chowk -- of Bhairahawa have been benefitted from the mock policemen. They have helped in fulfilling the roles of traffic police who would be seen during the day. Seeing these, drivers along with pedestrians are bound to follow the rules.
On Sunday, two youth were about to cross the road via the divider. However, when they saw a dummy police officer, they turned back and used the zebra crossing. There is a trend among people to follow rules only when they see a traffic policeman around.
The people who would break the traffic rules too have been impacted by the presence of a dummy police officer in Bhairahawa. Chief of district traffic police office, Police Inspector Diwash Bahadur GC, reported that with the installation of these mannequins, people have started following traffic rules. He added that the dummies affected the psychology of people and made them follow the rules.
The purpose of the installation was to spread knowledge on lane discipline, zebra crossing and traffic manners and to minimise road accidents.
The dummy replicates a working police officer. Dressed in the traffic uniform with police cap, tie, jacket and traffic boots, the dummy has effectively managed to impact the drivers on slowing down. “When we don’t see any officer, we drive rashly, but even in the presence of a dummy police, we have started slowing down,” said micro driver Pitambar GC.
The dummy holds boards displaying traffic rules. These boards are also known to educate the public on traffic rules and regulations. Information Officer of Lumbini Traffic Police Office and Deputy Superintendent of Police Dilli Narayan Poudel said that they would be installing the dummy traffic police in all 12 districts of Lumbini province.
Currently, 487 traffic police officers are deployed to manage the traffic in all 12 districts of the province. Among them, 60 are in Bhairahawa.