With nearly 115 million registered vehicles on the road and the world’s second largest population, road safety is a real concern for the citizens of India. As an ever growing economy, India is taking steps to educate the masses on road safety. In it’s most recent actions, Bollywood superstar actors have recently endorsed road safety messages.
Bollywood is a multi-billion dolar industry; the largest film producers in India and one of the largest centres of film production in the world. It’s film output is almost ten times that of Hollywood and consquently, its actors and actresses are revered as superstar role models all around the world.
Holding the second largest population in the world, India’s road safety status is somewhat below average with a deathrate per 100,000 of 18.9 and over 110,000 deaths every year. In a strengthened bid to reach out to the masses on road safety messaging, Bollywood superstars Aamir Khan and Karishma Kapoor both revered film stars have endorsed road safety messages.
The second episode of the third season of Satyamev Jayate, an nationwide Indian show, dealt with a subject of road accidents in India. Every year, an astounding number of people lose their lives due to road accidents many times when it is not even their fault but the other driver’s. About 6,000 children too are victims of road accidents. This numbercan only be brought down when there are strict rules and regulations not just on paper but in practice too.
The episode featured several cases wherein lives of many individuals could have been saved due to timely action or by following rules. In the end, Aamir Khan shared a few road safety and safe driving tips which if followed by all citizens can drastically bring down the number of such accidents. Here are the tips:
- Do not go over the speed limit: Overspeeding can be a lot of fun until the accident. It is essential we all follow the set speed limit to avoid such ill-fated incidents.
- Follow traffic rules: Even if there isn’t any traffic police present, do not break driving rules such as jumping the signal even when it is still red. Wait for it to be green to drive ahead even if the road is empty. As Aamir rightly pointed out, ‘These rules are for our own safety.’
- Wear a good quality helmet: Aamir stressed enough on this point that no one should ride a two-wheeler without wearing a good quality helmet. Not just the person sitting ahead, but also the pillion needs to protect their head with a helmet.
- No drinking and driving: Never should one drive under the influence of alcohol or any other such substance. It not only puts your life in danger but also the people sitting in your vehicle and others driving on the same road as even one mistake can sometimes be fatal.
Friend of YOURS and member of the Global Alliance for Road Safety NGOs, Mr Harman Sidhu of Arrive Safe Delivers the message of Decade of Action to Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan.
- Wear a seatbelt: We often only wear a seatbelt when we see traffic police on the road to avoid getting fined for it. But it is vital that we start putting it on the moment we sit in the car for our own protection. Not just the driver, others sitting in the car should follow this rule too.
- Never talk on the phone while driving: This is highly important as one can lose their focus and pay more attention to the conversation than driving which can lead to accidents on the road.
- Help someone in need: Aamir urged viewers to help out anyone in need if they’ve met with an accident on the road without thinking of the hassles of court, hospitals, etc.
Bangalore: Celebrities Karisma Kapoor and Anil Kumble have lent their star power to ‘Road to Safety’, a nationwide campaign to make Indian roads safer.
Supported by Karnataka Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy, the initiative was launched by Diageo and NDTV here Thursday. It aims to make the country’s roads safer and reduce the number of preventable accidents by encouraging citizens, specially the youth of India, to be more responsible behind the wheel and to avoid drunken driving.
Talking about the issue, Karisma said in a statement: “So many lives are lost every year in India due to a casual approach and lack of knowledge about road safety. Initiatives like this will go a long way in educating people about road safety measures and in turn will help save lives.”
Anand Kripalu, managing director, United Spirits (a Diageo group company), said that the initiative is a year-long programme of partnership with government, NGOs and educational institutes to cause a paradigm shift in people’s approach to road safety in India.