The Society for Automotive Fitness & Environment (SAFE), a SIAM initiative in association with the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, Transport Department, government of Assam, organised its annual convention today in Guwahati. The theme for this year's convention was 'Enforcement, Intelligent Transportation and Training for Safer Roads, which was aimed at addressing the safety hazards that Indian roads present due to lack of road safety awareness.

The SAFE convention was organised to share the best practices adopted by government and private organisations in areas of vehicular safety, technology innovations, and standards for enhancing road safety. The convention was attended by prominent representatives from the ministry and industry stakeholders.  Naveen Soni, president, Society for Automotive Fitness & Environment (SAFE), welcomed the chief guests, dignitaries and delegates.

During the inaugural session, the guests of honour, Ms. Neeti Sarkar, CEO and PD, NATRiP, along with Ashutosh Agnihotri, IAS, Commissioner & Secretary (Transport, Industries & Commerce & Skill, Employment & Entrepreneurship Department), Government of Assam addressed the delegates. Agnihotri called upon vehicle manufacturers to plan year-long activities across Assam to improve road safety across the state.

Parimal Suklabaidya, Minister of Environment, Forest, Fishery and Excise, Government of Assam, said, “In our country, we have vehicles with new and the best technology and we are trying to make them safer. We are working in the area of technology for vehicles and for road safety. It is our responsibility to lay emphasis on spreading awareness on road safety. Drivers must ensure that their awareness and  driving skills can prevent a road fatality. We are working towards initiating better driver training workshops for ensuring we have safer roads.”

Naveen Soni, president, SAFE said, “Road safety is of utmost importance to us. The onus for making our roads safe is on us on us as it is on the regulators. We as manufacturers, apart from ensuring the technical safety aspects in vehicles also invest in creating and spreading awareness about safety. Government intervention and industry participation will be the key to building a robust and sustainable road safety model. Automobiles manufacturers are extensively trying to implement various initiatives in the area of improving road safety.”

PK Banerjee, executive director, SIAM, said: “With the socio-economic progress of the country happening at such a rapid pace, it is important for road safety measures to also evolve with the times and ensure that the all citizens are covered and safe. We have been working with the government towards holding awareness building workshops across the country as well as introduction of accident, data analytics and implementation of technology based solutions in traffic management. There have been a number of successful programs held across the country that have made some significant difference. Training programs are also being organised to make drivers more aware. SIAM SAFE is working towards ensuring these programs are driven with an agenda of ‘Building the Nation, Responsibly’. ”

Technical sessions
The day-long event saw three different technical sessions. The first technical session highlighted the successful projects on road safety implemented by enforcement agencies. During the first session,  Rakesh Kumar, IAS, Transport Commissioner, Transport Department, Government of Assam; Anil Chhikara, MLO, Transport Department, Government of NCT Delhi; Sanjay Sasane and Yogesh Bag, Transport Department, Government of Maharashtra and Ms. Prerna Singh, Centre for Road Safety, Sardar Patel University of Police Rajasthan,  presented their insights to all delegates.

The second technical session focussed on steps taken in planning the traffic by usage of intelligent transportation and accident data analysis. During this session, Anand Naraya an, Bosch; Sitikantha Padhy, Manager, ADAC, NATRiP; N Balasubrahmanian, deputy vice-president; Renault Nissan Technology and Business Centre, India and Anubrata Choudhary, Sr. Manager, IAMHere24x7, shared insights on the ITS usage in traffic planning and accident analysis system required for bringing the reduction in road fatalities on roads.

The third technical session drew attention towards the importance of training. This session focussed on driver training and other projects which spreads knowledge in the area road safety and environment. During this session, Mohammed Ali , Head DTI Kaithal, Ashok Leyland; Arun Lakshma n, Asst. General Manager, IDTR, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd; Prabhu Nagraj, Vice President, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India; Abhijit Kumar Mandal, National Institute for Automotive Inspection, Maintenance and Training (NIAIMT), Silchar and Prashant Chopra, National Safety Head, Hero MotoCorp, presented their views on the importance of training drivers and riders.