Police personnel and volunteers were seen offering roses to traffic offenders instead of imposing fine in Latur city of Maharashtra on Saturday evening.?The traffic police conducted a road safety drive on the stretch of road between the railway station and Gandhi chowk.

Volunteers acting as `traffic ambassadors' and police personnel distributed roses to motorcyclists riding triple-seat, car drivers not wearing seat belts and auto rickshaw drivers without uniforms.?

In order to encourage people to follow road safety and traffic rules on their own, this ?`Gandhigiri' (a term popularised by the film "Lage Raho Munnabhai") approach was adopted, an official said.

The Traffic police department, under the guidance of Superintendent of Police Somay Munde, recently launched an initiative where volunteers of various social organizations work as `traffic ambassadors' three or four hours a week to spread awareness about the ?importance of following rules, said inspector Ganesh Kadam.?They will soon be given special T-shirts and caps, said PSI Avez Kazi.