In an effort to rectify India’s infamous reputation as the country with the deadliest roads in the world, UL, a global safety science organization, through its not for profit arm has launched an online pledge campaign to change bad driver behaviour. Dubbed #SafetyFirst, the campaign urges the social media user to take a pledge to put safety first at all times - by promising to be responsible, by adhering to basic road safety rules against overspeeding, drunken driving and underage driving, by encouraging the use of helmet and seatbelts and by yielding right of way to emergency vehicles like ambulances.The pledge, shareable on Facebook and Twitter, can be made at UL’s Safety Smart India site http://ulsafetysmart.com/india/index. The microsite educates potential pledge takers about the disastrous ramifications of indulging in unsafe driving practices. For instance, “drivers using cell phones look but fail to see up to 50 percent of the information in their driving environment”.
“India’s road safety challenges are complex and multifold, the resolution of which requires an impactful, holistic approach. While a lot can be said about stricter enforcement of rules and improvement of road infrastructure, a major part of the road safety problem in India involves increasing accountability of drivers and improving road behaviour. It is this very issue that we want to tackle through this campaign. While people are aware of the rules, when they make a conscious effort to pledge for safety, it brings positive changes to their behaviour on the road. This is the impact we are hoping to achieve with our campaign,” says R.A Venkitachalam, Vice President, Public Safety Mission, UL.
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