Bridgestone India launched a road safety education program today at CIRT, Bhosari Pune. The program aims to raise awareness about road safety amongst young road-users and community stakeholders, in response to the exponential rise in the number of road deaths in India.

The Bridgestone Road Safety Education Programme was formally launched by the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Traffic Division, Pune, Sarang Awad, in the presence of Jitendra Patil, RTO, Abhay Damle (IRS), Director of CIRT, school principals and senior management of Bridgestone India.

The Road Safety Education Program is a year–long on-going, sustainable and multi-dimensional outreach programme, which will effectively connect with all road safety stakeholders, including enforcement officials, leaders and authorities. The programme is widely supported by police authorities, road transport authorities, educational authorities, and nationally-renowned institutes like CIRT.

The road safety education programme is designed to reach out to various community segments, mainly children and students, through engagement and educational events, multimedia campaigns, social media channels and other means. A series of activities will be conducted under the supervision of road safety supervisors to ensure the effective implementation of the programme. Some of these include establishing road safety clubs, community awareness campaigns, road safety contests, field studies, driver sensitization workshops, and in-school educational activities.

Speaking at the launch of the programme, Sarang Avad, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Traffic Division, Pune, said: “We are pleased to associate with Bridgestone India in launching this road safety education programme for our community. I would also like to appreciate the initiative taken by Bridgestone, especially since it comes at a time when we are all battling with the significant rise in road accident deaths specifically amongst youths. We are positive that through this programme, we will be able to create effective awareness about preventive measures that can benefit the community and make our city a safer place for all. We promise our complete support to this activity”

Sharing future plans for Bridgestone’s Road Safety Education initiatives, Ajay Sevekari, Director- HR & Administration, Purchase, Logistics and IT, Bridgestone India said, “Road safety is a fundamental element to civil security. Looking at the rise in road mishaps and death, we feel it is imperative to take concrete measures towards changing this scenario. Safety has been an integral part of Bridgestone’s business, and as a responsible corporate organization, we believe in extending the same values for the betterment of our communities. Through the launch of this activity, we plan to follow a structured approach in inculcating necessary road safety behavioural changes in our community through our younger generation.”