Bengaluru: Cops use millennial lingo to drive home the point

Bengaluru: Tech-savvy Bengaluru City Police have taken to social media to dole out gyan on traffic rules packaged in a witty manner, under the hashtag #WordOfTheDay in order to reach out to the millennials glued to Facebook.

These posts are often accompanied by pictures to drive home messages regarding common traffic violations such as two-wheeler riders not using helmets or riding on footpath, drunk driving and other issues.

In a marked departure from their earlier intimidating ways of dire warnings and hefty fines, the traffic police have adopted the lingo spoken and understood by people of Bengaluru, especially the youth. With the city's young population remaining glued to social media the moment they open their eyes in the morning, the city police have decided to use it to their advantage.

In their posts often accompanied by a picture or meme, they highlight a particular violation and explain the facts by providing the dictionary definition.

Sample this: “See those black and white strips? You gotta stop just before them, not ON them,” reads one of the morning posts on their official Facebook page. The post has a picture in which vehicle users are seen stopped on the zebra crossing and a dictionary definition of what actually zebra crossing means and what it is used for.

The posts are garnering more eyeballs than before as the information is often laced with wit, and they are also going viral.

“There is no use if warnings don’t serve the purpose. Ultimately, our aim is to ensure there are no traffic violations and everything moves safely, as the imposition of fines comes later. We can avoid accidents and jams to an extent by just understanding and following the traffic rules,” a senior police officer said.