Road Safety – Be the Change

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Road safety is one of the  major social concern in our country. India being the second largest road network in the world also accounts for 10 percent of fatal road accidents worldwide. And the social cost of these accidents in INDIA alone is expected as $11,000 USD. We lag behind the safety norms of international standards.

What is the cause of it?

We  humans take everything for granted and misuse it. We mostly don’t wear helmets while driving two wheelers. Even when its mandatory, we are okay with paying 50 to 100 rupee fine for not wearing it, as it will make our hair look unkempt/sweaty.

We don’t use subways and bridges to cross the road and instead walk into the traffic as we are always in a hurry.

We also use footpath to drive our two wheelers when in traffic because that saves us a lot of time.

And when we walk also, we walk in the middle of the road as footpaths are dirty and even shout at people who drive near us.

When it comes to driving a car, we don’t bother wearing the seat belt as its treated as a hindrance. We also proudly say ‘I don’t even wear seat belts in flights’

How do we fix this?

As Mahatma Gandhi said ‘Be the change you want to see in the world“, the responsibility lies with us. We must start to follow the rules and let go of the chalta hai attitude.

Our Government has taken multiple steps to up the safety norms but we still find loopholes in order to misuse it.

Rash Driving, not using proper safety measures can take life in an instant.  We only get one life and we must not waste it by our silly mistakes. When we drive, its not only our life , other drivers and pedestrians life is also in our hands. So we must take complete responsibilities while driving.

When I went for getting my license in RTO office, that day around 40 to 50 people came. But only few (around 10) were asked to drive bike and car in the morning. When I went to collect the printed license in the evening I saw around 30 people came for it. I asked a guy who came in the morning but dint drive anything, he replied with a bright smile “I have paid 1000 extra machi”.  He had this sense of superiority about himself being able to get the job done with bribing. These things leads to bad drivers, who doesn’t have any sense of road rules and regulations.

The road safety rules and regulations shouldn’t be taken lightly as its a matter of life and death. These laws are for our benefits. So as long as we obey it, we wont be needing luck to be on our side.

Few pointers from my side:

  • Start early so you don’t have to accelerate and do rash driving.
  • Slow and steady wins the race. Drive slowly and smoothly as long as you are not in a race 😛
  • Always check for safety measures while buying vehicles (such as airbags etc).
  • Keep safe distance from front vehicles.
  • Wear helmet always while driving two wheelers.
  • We wear belts to keep our pant intact, why not seat-belts to keep our life intact ? – wear them always.
  • Follow the lane while driving in highways.
  • Never drink and drive.
  • Use dim/dip lights in high way and night driving.
  • Stop using headphones and listening to songs while driving as its the only time to hear songs.
  • Stop answering calls and using mobile while driving.
  • Use Zebra crossing , subways and bridges when its available.
  • Obey the rules and follow the signals.

Your Life is in your hands, take good care of it by following these 🙂

This Post is part of SAFETY BEGINS WITH ME campaign by Nissan Safety Driving Forum (NSDF) in association with Indiblogger.

About the Campaign:

The Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., conducts the Nissan Safety Driving Forum (NSDF) in India as part of its safety driving promotion activities. The program began as an annual activity in 2012. In its initial phase it covered three main Indian cities – New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai – and since then has gradually expanded to several additional cities across India.

This year, NSDF would reach 8 new cities – Chandigarh, Jalandhar, Jaipur, Vadodara, Nagpur, Chennai, Mangalore and Kochi. The overall reach and engagement levels have phenomenally grown and NSDF has effectively reached close to 2 lakh citizens. It continues to stay committed to its core objective of promoting safe driving behaviour in India. Nissan seeks to support reducing fatalities and injuries caused by traffic accidents, and NSDF represents the company’s commitment in contributing to young, vibrant and mobile India.

For More Detailed info: Check Here