Road Safety Week 2021 – Maruti Suzuki Making Indian Roads Safer

Road accidents caused by human error are preventable with a change of driving habits, which makes up 80% of all accidents since this is the percentage related purely to the fault of the driver. The biggest car manufacturer in India, Maruti Suzuki is investing in technology for improving the driving habits of people through all stages – education, testing and enforcement. Next in our series for the ongoing National Road Safety Week 2021, let’s take a look at what this veteran automaker is contributing.

Maruti Suzuki CSR for Road Safety

Being India’s largest passenger car maker, it already has a massive training network in safe driving. Towards this objective, it is setting up Automated Driving Test Centres for objective evaluation, and testing and establishing Traffic Safety Management Systems by deploying technological solution to capture traffic violations to aid enforcement.

The ‘I Commit’ campaign was started to ensure safety of employees while commuting to and from work and travelling during holidays. During the campaign, employees were briefed on road safety and driving behaviour, followed by a declaration to comply with traffic rules. Driven by the commitment to make Indian roads safer, Maruti Suzuki undertakes CSR projects to enhance road safety consciousness and improve driving skills.

Institutes of Driving Training and Research (IDTR)

In order to provide quality driving training and education, the company has set up seven Institutes of Driving Training and Research (IDTR) and 19 Road Safety Knowledge Centres (RSKC) in association with five state governments in India. The IDTRs use scientifically designed test tracks, driving simulators and a well-defined curriculum to conduct learner, refresher and evaluation courses for drivers of light motor vehicles, heavy motor vehicles, two-wheelers, three-wheelers and forklifts.

Automated Driving Test Centres

Maruti Suzuki has partnered with the Delhi Transport Department to set up 12 Automated Driving Test Centres (ADTC) in Delhi. The centres have specially designed tracks to conduct driving tests. They are also equipped with high resolution cameras to capture real-time footage of tests, analytics-based assessment tools and biometrics to help in issuance of driving licences in a more transparent and efficient manner.

Traffic Safety Management System

A Traffic Safety Management System (TSMS) has been implemented in partnership with the Delhi Police at road junctions with high traffic density. The TSMS comprises of 3D radars and high-resolution cameras that simultaneously capture traffic violations such as over-speeding, red-light violation, stop line violation and wrong side driving. The information on violations is transmitted to the central control room of Delhi Police, from where an e-penalty slip is sent to the violator by SMS.

Road Safety Education in Schools

Maruti Suzuki has undertaken the ‘Catch Them Young’ CSR project aimed at creating road safety awareness among school children in Delhi. Around 5,000 school children were covered as of March 2020. Road Safety Clubs comprising of teacher coordinator and school children conduct activities such as poster making competitions and mock road scene investigations.

This article is part of a series on National Road Safety Week