Diageo India collaborates with Institute of Road Traffic Education for a two days Road Safety Programme in Mohali

27 Oct 2017 | Press release

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Initiative will help build capacity by training of over 40 Punjab Police officers

Mohali, 27th October, 2017: Diageo India (United Spirits), today announced the launch of the Road Safety Capacity Building program for the Punjab Police together with the Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE). The programme was inaugurated in the presence of Mr. B L Meena, IPS, DIG Range, Punjab, Mr. Navdeep Singh Mehram, Senior General Manager – Sustainability, Diageo India and Dr. Rohit Baluja, President, Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE).

With over 1,45,000 fatalities a year, India accounts for 12.5% of global road accidents, with 1 road accident occurring every four minutes. In 2015 alone, 72% victims in road mishaps were in the age group of 15-44 years and it is estimated that 1.5% of road traffic accidents and 4.6% of fatalities are attributable to drunken driving. According to data by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, in 2016, Punjab reported over 5,000 fatalities and over 4,350 serious injuries due to road accidents and The Road Accidents in Punjab 2016 report states that in 2016 Mohali witnessed over 290 fatalities in road accidents.

Aimed at achieving higher levels of efficiency and effectiveness, the programme from 27 – 28 October 2017 in Mohali, provided capacity building training to traffic police and transport officers in road accident investigation and traffic management.

Commenting on the initiative, Abanti Sankaranarayanan, Chief Strategy and Corporate Affairs Officer, Diageo India, said “The Diageo ‘Road to Safety’ initiative aims to create the necessary impact to address the abysmal state of road safety in our country. By collaborating with the Punjab Police and IRTE, we aim to take this programme to greater heights by encouraging more people to put safety first and promote responsible consumption.”

Dr. Rohit Baluja, President, Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE), said “Road Safety is the backbone of an efficient and safe traffic management system. I would like to compliment and congratulate Punjab Police for having taken this bold initiative to undertake the capacity building programme for its police force. Such an initiative would definitely reduce road traffic violations and casualties in the same proportion as the application of the initiative.”

The USL-Diageo IRTE ‘Road to Safety’ initiative is currently in its 3rd Year and aims to provide capacity building training to traffic police officials and educate commercial drivers such as truckers and bus drivers and university students on the dangers of drunken driving. Each programme is conducted by an expert panel of faculty of the IRTE. The deliberations include causes and consequences of road accidents, rules of road regulations and understanding traffic control devices.

Since 2014, the programme has trained over 3,900 traffic officials in road safety capacity-building, along with 6,000 commercial vehicle drivers and over 5,000 university students in 50 cities of 15 states. High quality breath alcohol analysers were donated to police departments of several states.