NEW DELHI: Asserting its commitment to road safety in the country, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, in collaboration with Diageo India and the Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE), on Tuesday launched a training and awareness programme for university students.
The project, titled Road to Safety — Towards Responsible Youth, aims to reach 500 universities across the country in the next 3-4 years. This year, a target of reaching 50 universities has been set.“With an aim to reduce road accidents by 50 per cent by 2022, we are delighted to launch the programme,” Mansukh Mandaviya, MoS, Road Transport and National Highways, said at the launch.
According to an IRTE study, novice young drivers are twice as likely as adult drivers to be caught in fatal crashes. As per industry reports, India accounts for 12.5 per cent (over 1,45,000 fatalities a year) of global road accidents, with 1 accident occurring every four minutes. Alarmingly, 72 per cent victims are between the 15-44 age group, with speeding and reckless and drunk driving being the top reasons accounting for 1.5% of accidents and 4.6 per cent of fatalities.IRTE president Dr Rohit Baluja said, “This programme adopts the means of creating awareness amongst youth so that they become defensive road users.”