BENGALURU: A comprehensive road safety initiative combining a statewide mass media campaign with focused police enforcement demonstrated a notable success in reducing speeding and saving lives in Bengaluru.
The ‘Motorcycle Reconstruction’ campaign led to a significant decline in average vehicle speeds. It found that average speeds fell from 45.91 km/h before the campaign to 36.56 km/h after its implementation— a reduction of 9.4 km/h. Also, the study recorded 13 fewer fatalities in the post-campaign phase.
The report was conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) with support from Vital Strategies, implemented by the Karnataka State Road Safety Authority.
The three-month campaign, launched in November 2024, was aired across 12 television channels, 500 theatres, over 200 billboards, and multiple print and radio platforms. The triangulation study, analysing behavioural surveys, speed observations and police crash data, found that 42% of respondents recalled the campaign. Among them, 47% reported always following speed limits in the past two months.
Joint Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru Traffic Police, Karthik Reddy said, “I observed how media reporting on the death trap - Bengaluru-Mysuru Highway - forced a systemic change and brought about strategic evidence-based interventions that drastically reduced deaths and injuries on this corridor in 2023. The reduction in deaths (though not significant) and average speed is a positive outcome,” he said.
Dr Gautham M Sukumar, professor, Department of Epidemiology, WHO collaborating centre for injury prevention and safety promotion, NIMHANS, said, “Post-campaign knowledge of speed limits increased significantly. The government has to continue this method of implementing mass media campaigns.”