LUDHIANA: Following a road safety crusader raising objections over a liquor vend posing a risk to the lives of drivers and other road users, and the excise department planning to act against it, the vend owner has now removed boards advertising it as a ‘drive-through’ The Canal View ‘drive through’ boards that had come up at Ajnod around the beginning of last year had a road track that ran parallel to the liquor vend for those coming in vehicles to buy liquor bottles on the go. However, after it invited controversy, the owner got the board removed, including one stating that the vend was 300 metres ahead.Road safety crusader Harman Singh Sidhu, president of ArriveSafe, said he had written two letters to the excise department and a letter to the police commissioner, where he had stated that the hoarding of the liquor vend boasted of a ‘drive through’ facility. He added that he had mentioned in the letter that a vehicle owner could get distracted on seeing this sign, have drinks in his vehicle, and pose a risk to himself and other road users.Sidhu said he had written that a liquor vend — ‘Canal View’ at Ajnod village, on the busy Ludhiana-Doraha Canal Road — had put up a sign stating a ‘drive through’ liquor vend was available 300 metres ahead. He added that a road could only have road signs, as per standards set by the Indian Road Congress, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India.Sidhu said it was good the owner had got such boards removed, but the excise department should have penalized him for putting them up in the first place. District excise and taxation commissioner Pawan Garg said they were in the process of penalizing the vend owner for the violations. He added that the owner would have got such boards removed and installed proper boards with necessary information, including licence number and other details on them.Meanwhile, vend owner Jagdish Chand Johar said he had a simple liquor vend which was not a ‘drive through’. Road safety experts said that anything that promoted consumption of liquor while driving resulted in road accident deaths. “Any kind of facilitation and encouragement which leads to drink, drive, and speeding are key reasons for road accident deaths,” said traffic adviser (Punjab) and road safety expert Navdeep Asija.

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