Free reflective tapes for 1.3 lakh cyclists

A total 1.3 lakh cyclists have been provided with free retro-reflective tapes in the national capital till now in a bid to ensure their safety, a statement said on Sunday.

The campaign by the Delhi Police, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways as well the International Road Federation (IRF) aims to target 10 lakh cyclists in the current financial year ending March, 2015.

‘More than 6,600 cyclists lost their lives in 2012 due to lack of visibility, almost a third of them in the age group of 15 to 24. The International Road Federation (IRF), in association with the Delhi Police, has started distributing 10 lakh such tapes to bicycle riders in Delhi. The campaign to fix reflective tapes on bicycles free of cost, for easy spotting of cyclists by drivers of other vehicles at night, is likely to be taken to other major cities including Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Kochi,’ said KK Kapila, IRF chairman.

‘Installation of retro-reflective tapes on bicycles will help make them a safer mode of transportation as they can be spotted from a distance of at least 100 metres at night and even in foggy conditions,’ added Kapila. ‘The tapes will be fixed on several parts of a bicycle — white tape on front lamp bracket, red tape on rear mud guard and yellow tape on seat stay and front fork,’ Kapila added.

Citing 2012 data, the IRF said that some 114 cyclists died in road mishaps in Delhi while at the national level, the number of cyclists killed in accidents stood at over 6,600.