Road safety awareness has increased within the public, says Police Commissioner Mohamed “MC” Hameed.

The commissioner said this at the “Save Lives, Speak Up" march held on Friday, to mark this year’s Road Safety Week. The march was organized by the health and transport ministries, in association with the police service.

Speaking to RaajjeMV at the event, Commissioner Hameed said that the main purpose of such events is “to further increase road safety awareness.”

Adding that there “has been progress,” he highlighted that “more can be done.”

The march was inaugurated by Transport Minister Aishath Nahula, who urged everyone to pay attention while on the road.

She said that a careless mistake “could affect the lives of many families,” and emphasized on the need for all to strengthen road safety.

There were two stops at Friday’s march, with scenes created to show the aftermath of accidents.

World Health Organization (WHO)’s statistics show that around a million people are killed in road accidents every year.

In addition to the transport minister and the police commissioner, Health Minister Abdulla Ameen, Malé City Mayor Shifa Mohamed and the WHO’s Maldives representative Dr. Arvind Mathur joined the march.

A road safety campaign was launched earlier this month.