All-India road safety week kicks off

With an aim to raise awareness among the general public to improve the levels of safety on road, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) has organised a nationwide 'Road Safety Week' starting January 11, 2016. The programme also aims to give an opportunity to all stakeholders to contribute to the cause of road safety.

During the week, the various causes of road accidents and measures to prevent them will be highlighted through various activities, with the involvement of school and college students, drivers and other road users. These activities include display of banners, road signage and pamphlets related to road safety. Various stakeholders such as different departments of state governments, traffic police, vehicle manufacturers, transporters association, PSUs and corporates will participate in the events during the Road Safety Week.

As a part of this week-long programme, the Ministry has also organised a walkathon from India Gate today in association with Delhi Police and the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). 

In 2014, 141,526 people were killed in India in road accidents, while 477,731 people were injured in 450,898 road accidents. Youth in the age group of 15 to 24 years comprise 33 percent of the total fatalities.

The government is taking active steps for the implementation of National Road Safety Policy by improving the engineering of roads, the enforcement, improving emergency care and taking up awareness campaigns for the citizens. Nevertheless, there is a dire need for citizens to take responsibility and practice safe motoring habits.

Recently, a lot of automakers have stepped up with road safety initiatives and similar programmes. The high levels of accidents provided the impetus for Toyota Kirloskar Motor to organise a safety seminar in Guwahati in November, which was part of the quadrilateral Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) Friendship Motor Rally. Toyota has also been active in championing for a safer environment under the theme of ‘Safe Road Safe Cars’. It has conducted several road safety initiatives since 2005, including the Toyota Safety Education Program (TSEP) which was launched in 2007 for spreading road safety awareness among school children. The program has now reached out and educated around 60,000 children in various Indian cities.
Also, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI), in collaboration with Reliance General Insurance conducted an engagement-cum-awareness initiative on safe riding and benefits of helmet usage in St Lawrence School, Vashi, Mumbai last month. The initiative also conducted activities in Pune, and will soon cover Ahmedabad.

Also aiding road safety awareness was Hyundai Motor India's ‘Safe Move-Traffic Safety’ Campaign held in New Delhi in November. The initiative that had been taken up in sync with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), promoting road and traffic safety habits amongst children.

It is not just the carmakers that are taking up such initiatives. Component suppliers like Hella and ICAT also took the initiative to speak on the high rate of similar fatalities during the biennial International Symposium on Lighting (ISOL-2015). Apart from tech start-ups like Elsys Intelligent Devices introducing smart road safety platform, the recent programme by MoRTH to make first aid training mandatory for commercial vehicle drivers in India is another step in the right direction.