The Centre of Excellence for Road Safety (CoERS) of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras held a meeting of school principals recently as part of ‘Training Young Minds’ project.
At the conclave, held on January 30, the best practices to equip future generation with better road skills was discussed. The crash data from 2022 published by the Union ministry of road transport and highways states that nearly 60% of fatalities took place on 5% of the national and state highway roads.
Around 83.4% of crash fatalities are among persons in the working age group of 18 to 60 years. Institute director V. Kamakoti said India’s population is its strength and each fatality has severe socio-economic cost to both families and the nation. “This is a team effort, and we will support any initiative that looks at making societal change.” he said.
Shunchongam Jatak Chiru, principal secretary and transport and road safety commissioner, said: “Over 1.68 lakh people lost their lives in the country in 2022. In Tamil Nadu, 17,884 died, which translates to 49 fatalities a day. This deeply affects society, and we need to look at the reasons behind it.”
Since teachers were the most important influencers for young children the conclave must be a call-to-action, and each person must resolve to enable and equip young minds with the required skill to practice safe driving, he said.
CoERS trains teachers, traffic wardens and road safety patrol students on activity-based learning (ABL) of road safety. It signed a memorandum of understanding with Ford in August last year.
R. Sudhakar, additional commissioner of police (Traffic), said small steps to incorporate traffic sense and road safety at school level will enable change. Srikanth Ramanathan, Ford’s director of global business operations, said, “Children are socially aware of what happens on the road and using activity-based learning to teach important concepts will help them come together and prepare better for the future.”
The programme uses puzzles, crosswords, skits and painting to impart the message. Since its inception in 2024, it has trained over 850 trainers in around 320 schools impacting more than 2,500 students across the country.
A panel discussion on developing 21st century skills and shaping the next generation of safe road users was held. Venkatesh Balasubramanian, head of CoERS and RBG labs at the institute, who is leading the initiative, said the scientifically designed process could create a lasting impact in youngsters and result in reducing accidents and road fatalities.
