The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) in collaboration with the Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE) has announced its partnership with Diageo India for the launch of Road To Safety – Towards Responsible Youth Programme for university students.

This partnership attempts to bring a formal and structured training programme for university students as they apply for their learner’s license. The programme aims to reach over 500 universities across the country in the next three to five years; with the first year target being 100 programmes across 50 universities.

The programme was inaugurated by Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of State, MoRTH in the august presence of Leena Nandan, additional secretary, MoRTH; Abhay Damle, joint secretary, MoRTH together with Abanti Sankaranarayanan, chief strategy and corporate affairs officer, Diageo India and Dr Rohit Baluja, president, IRTE.

As per industry reports, India accounts for 12.5% (over 1,45,000 fatalities a year) of global road accidents, with one road accident occurring every four minutes. Alarmingly, 72 per cent victims involved in such road mishaps are between the age groups of 15-44 years with speeding, reckless and drunk driving being the top reason accounting for 1.5% of road traffic accidents and 4.6% of fatalities.

The  programme is a step toward addressing the grave issue of road safety by inculcating behavioural change and creating awareness about responsible driving habits among young adults. The four-hour extensive programme is an immersive and interactive module-led by senior faculty members of IRTE covering varied aspects of responsible driving including defensive driving, ill effects of driving under the influence of alcohol, speeding and wearing of helmets.