S. Vishnu Sharma
IIT Madras COERS is partnering with Greater Chennai Traffic Police to celebrate the Road Safety Month 2024 organised by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) through a series of events from 16 January to 14 February 2024.
The competitions being conducted include short film making, photography and essay writing on the theme of road safety for different age groups, say sources from IIT Madras COERS.
Awareness Run
An awareness run titled ‘Run 5K for 5Ks’ was flagged off by G Venkatraman, IPS, ADGP, Tamil Nadu Police and R Sudhakar, IPS, Additional Commissioner (Traffic), Greater Chennai Traffic Police, in the presence of Prof. Venkatesh Balasubramanian, Head, IIT Madras COERS.
The 5K run took place on 21st January to raise awareness on the 5Ks – keep lane discipline, keep priority for pedestrians, keep adhering to speed limit, keep helmet usage mandatory, and keep seat belt usage mandatory, say sources from IIT Madras COERS.
Stage
Adding to this, IIT Madras COERS volunteers also took the stage at Phoenix Marketcity in Velachery, Chennai, on 20 January 2024 for a road safety awareness flash mob and engaged the general public through ‘vox pop’ interviews on road traffic rules and safety.
Essay
The road safety essay challenge is being conducted for high school students across the nation on the topic ‘Steering towards road safety: my vision for safer roads,’ say sources from IIT Madras COERS.
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Additionally, road safety photography and film making competitions are also being conducted under the subject of ‘My life, my safety’.
Participants are encouraged to post their submissions online which will later be evaluated by judges.
Entries for the Essay Challenge for students, Short Film-Making and Photography competitions are ongoing, and submissions can be made at https://bit.ly/RSM2024.
Director of IIT Madras
Speaking on the occasion, Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, said, at IIT Madras, we are committed to bringing about social change through various initiatives.
Conditions prevalent in India provide us with opportunities to provide solutions to address different problems when it comes to making our roads safer, he said.
We have worked on several other initiatives in the past on improving driver behaviour and through this Road Safety Month initiative, we hope to sensitise the younger generation – who will be the drivers of tomorrow – towards safer driving practices, said Director of IIT Madras.
Awareness Run
Flagging off the ‘Run 5K for 5Ks’, a road safety awareness run, Shri R. Sudhakar, IPS, Additional Commissioner (Traffic), Greater Chennai Traffic Police, said, “If people understand a road and interact with it properly then there will be no accidents.
Our aim is to make Chennai a no-accident city and we are proud that Chennai is one among the metropolitan cities where road accidents have come down, he said.
Through events like these, we aim to further raise awareness and urge the public to support our endeavour, he said.
Key Outcomes
The key outcomes targeted from the events include:
Ø Active public participation and engagement to spread awareness on the importance of road safety.
Ø Providing a platform to showcase individual talents.
Ø Sensitizing the general public on the importance of safe driving practices.
Initiative
Elaborating on the initiative, Prof. Venkatesh Balasubramanian, Head, IIT Madras COERS and RBG Labs, Department of Engineering Design, IIT Madras, said, “Going to zero road deaths should be our aim.
Talking about Road Safety alone is not enough, we all have our role to play in keeping our roads safe, said head of IIT Madras COERS.
Our request to the general public is for them to step up and actively work towards reducing road crashes and fatalities, said head of IIT Madras COERS.
About IIT Madras COERS
IIT Madras COERS is funded by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), Government of India, to perform evidence-based integrated approach to Road Safety.
IIT Madras COERS works on various aspects of human factors engineering, road engineering and vehicle engineering to bring about significant improvements in road safety globally.
This IIT Madras COERS also advices various stakeholders and Governments to bring about a data-driven systems approach to road safety.