Mahindra & Mahindra Launches “Safety Under 80” Campaign

It was launched in collaboration with Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation Ltd. and SaveLIFE Foundation

As part of the Zero Fatality Corridor (ZFC) campaign which was launched in 2014 with a collaboration with SaveLIVE Foundation, Mahindra has now also joined hands with Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation Ltd (MSRDC) to launch the “Safety Under 80” campaign on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. 

The initiative is aimed at educating motorists about the dangers of speeding and thereby reducing road crash fatalities to zero by 2020. Mahindra says that a replicable model, which works on the 4Es of road safety - education, engineering, enforcement and emergency care, can be implemented across the nation.

At the launch event, Radheshyam Mopalwar IAS, vice-chairman and MD, MSRDC, said “People need to know that speeding is dangerous. As part of MSRDC’s endeavour to ensure safety of commuters on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, we have, under the ZFC initiative, made significant progress on all fronts. This campaign which targets speeding is part of that continuing effort and aims to make the expressway safe for all.”

Representing Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd (M&M), Vijay Nair, vice-president of admin and CSR & employee relations (auto division), said that safety for the society is an integral part of the automaker’s work ethics. He further added that the company has launched several such CSR initiatives and believes that campaigns like ZFC have a far-reaching impact. M&M hopes that all efforts will help create India’s first zero death corridor.

Saji Cherian, director of operations at SaveLIFE Foundation added his thoughts - “Although the speed limit on the expressway is 80km/h, we know that adherence to it is quite minimal. Through this campaign, we want to remind the commuters that speeding has serious consequences and encourage people to be more responsible while driving.”

According to World Health Organisation (WHO), speeding is one of the five risk factors that lead to road crash fatalities and injuries. This is further affirmed by the 2015 report by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, which outlines that more than 60,000 people lost their lives and approximately 2.5 lakh were injured in road accidents in India. Under the “Safety Under 80” campaign, the consequences of speeding are represented through impactful outdoor hoardings and installations of crashed cars on both the corridors of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.