Last week, Goa witnessed around five accidents with two deaths and the number of mishaps has been alarmingly increasing over the past few months, raising questions on road safety among motorists.
With the accident graph taking an upward curve, artist Billy Joe Fernandes, popularly known as Billytoons Goa, and currently based in Dubai, decided to create some WhatsApp stickers in an attempt to do his bit in sensitising people about road rage in the State.
Chatting with Gomantak Times Digital, Billy said that with the rise in accidents many youth are losing their lives. “Seeing the youth die on the roads, the thought of let’s create awareness with WhatsApp stickers came to my mind as these might be easier to share across and will connect with the younger generations.”
In a week, he got a total of 21 stickers ready.
With the cops doing their bit to create awareness on the road rage issue – there is some disconnect. “People avoid wearing helmets, vehicles are missing mirrors, no sidelights are used, enter ‘no entry’ roads and the list can go on. Awareness is still needed as this happens on a regular basis,” he said and added, “However, we do need better infrastructure too – visible signboards, fixing of street lights, roads being dug with no safety precautions taken, are among a few.”
But, can awareness be created through stickers? “Well, yes,” said Billy and explained, “Awareness is the main factor. People need to realise that you cannot rewind any accident from happening. After the accident you cannot say – ‘oh, I wish I had not speeded’ or ‘I wish I had looked around before taking the turn!’.”
Though these stickers are used by all age groups, Billy is not looking at any specific target but just attempting to create awareness in a different manner from the usual.
Talking of the process of creating stickers, he said, “Everything is done from the scratch – designing the character, giving it an emotion and adding words along with making them look trendy.” Art, Billy said, has opened for him the doors to other creative opportunities where he makes small souvenirs like coasters, magnets, keychains, shot glasses and more.
Billytoons’ stickers have taken the world by storm. In the past, his hilarious and relatable WhatsApp stickers depicting Goan life exploded in popularity, becoming a global sensation. Despite being in Dubai, he is glued to his phone to get regular updates on the situation in his mankulem Goem.