NDTV & USL-Diageo are back with Season 3 of the ‘Road to Safety’ campaign

by Shrutee K/DNS

Mumbai, 22nd November, 2016: The ‘United Spirits-Diageo NDTV Road to Safety’ initiative returned with Season 3 to address one of the biggest concerns of our society and nation today – the growing issues of road safety. Season 3 was launched through a panel discussion and attended by Karisma Kapoor - Celebrity and Bollywood Action, Suhel Seth - CEO, Counselage, Abanti Sankaranarayanan - Chief Strategy and Corporate Affairs Officer, USL and Seji Cherian – CEO, Save Life Foundation hosted by Vishnu Som. The campaign encourages citizens to take a pledge to ‘Never Drink and Drive’. 

Over the last two years, the campaign has created awareness on road safety and has sensitized people to never drink and drive. In the second year, the campaign further focused on creating awareness on the ‘Good Samaritan guidelines’. Through its social initiative, the campaign has educated citizens to make roads safer by reducing the number of ‘preventable accidents’ and encouraging them to demonstrate more responsibility when behind the wheels. While a lack of awareness, bad road designs, poor maintenance of roads have been identified as problems, a majority of the accidents are a result of drunken driving.

  

Speaking at the event, Karisma Kapoor said, “I strongly support the initiative by USL-Diageo and NDTV and believe that road safety measures needs to be taken more seriously. As socially responsible citizens it is upto us to celebrate responsibly and to never drink and drive.” 

Speaking about the initiative, Mr. K V L Narayan Rao, Group CEO & Executive Vice Chairperson, NDTV said, “Drinking and Driving has become one of the largest problems on the face of road safety. We hope to get more people to pledge to Never Drink and Drive, so that we can build a better community for your children to live in.”

Abanti Sankaranarayanan, Chief Strategy and Corporate Affairs Officer, USL said, “At USL, we strongly believe that alcohol when consumed in moderation and responsibly, can be a part of a normal lifestyle. We also recognize that excessive and harmful consumption of alcohol can lead to problems for individuals and society. Research shows that drink driving is a major concern in India, which led us to launch the Road to Safety initiative. In the last three years, through strategic partnerships with not-for-profit organizations, governments, media and civil society, this program has created significant awareness of the problem and its potential solutions. We are committed to play our role to reduce drink driving and the harmful consumption of alcohol.”

The initiative managed to reach out to some of the country's leading experts, policy makers, and NGOs to highlight local issues, etc. and the team also presented a 7-point road safety agenda to the government. The agenda covered a lot of aspects ranging from the laws that need amendment to the traffic police force that needs training. 

In Season 3, the campaign attempts to address the issue of road safety by encouraging citizens to take a pledge to Never Drink and Drive and to always have a designated driver to ensure their safety. 

The initiative is supported by the Save Life Foundation and Saji Cherian its CEO emphasized on the need of road safety and responsible consumption. According to a study by Save Life Foundation, road accidents contribute to about 83.6% of all traffic related deaths. India has a record of having a staggering 1214 road crashes every day, out of which there is at least 1 serious road accident every minute. 

About the Campaign

Indian roads are the most dangerous in the world, given that on an average, there is an accident every minute, and a fatality once every four minutes. Over 10 lakh Indians have lost their lives in road accidents in the last 10 years, and road traffic injuries are a leading cause of death for young people aged 15-29 years. This makes road safety one of the biggest concerns for the Indian government and society today, impacting each and every one of us.

The campaign is now in its third edition, and attempts to address this issue by encouraging citizens to take a pledge to Never Drink and Drive. We are also working on charting out a roadmap to a future where every life is valued by actively engaging with the country’s leading experts, policy makers, NGOs and activists to highlight local issues, agendas and recommendations.

About NDTV

NDTV Ltd, founded in 1988, is India's largest news and infotainment network. It is home to the country's best and brightest reporters, anchors, camerapersons and producers. Offices and studios across the country host India's most modern and sophisticated production, newsgathering and archiving facilities. NDTV has an unmatched track record of being the first to successfully launch innovative news and lifestyle channels: NDTV 24x7 is a clear leader in the English news segment; NDTV India is amongst the country's leading Hindi news channels while NDTV Good Times straddles issues from health and holistic healing to fashion and food. In a first of its kind in the country the 2-in-1 channel of NDTV Profit and NDTV Prime is a business plus infotainment channel with NDTV Profit being India's number one markets’ news channel. NDTV is credited with pioneering several broadcasting and programming initiatives in Indian television and has expanded into one of the nation's biggest broadcasting houses by growing beyond news broadcasting and venturing into non news verticals with NDTV Worldwide and NDTV Convergence, as well as e-commerce verticals in the ethnic wear, automobile, gadgets, health foods and wedding preparation sectors with their websites IndianRoots, Car and Bike, Gadgets 360, SmartCooky and BandBaajaa.com. NDTV has received many accolades for its initiatives in pioneering causes and for taking a leading role in Corporate Social Responsibility. For more information visit www.ndtv.com

About United Spirits Limited

United Spirits Limited (USL) is a subsidiary of Diageo plc which is a global leader in beverage alcohol with an outstanding collection of brands across spirits, beer and wine categories. In 2013-14, Diageo plc acquired a 54.8% shareholding in United Spirits making India one of its largest markets.  Headquartered in Bengaluru, the organization, with its 5000+ employees, prides itself on innovative products that have made a mark on the world stage by regularly winning accolades and awards from international juries. USL exports its products to over 37 countries across the globe.

The company has a strong distribution network and point of sale coverage and is represented in 81000 outlets across India. It has over 74 manufacturing facilities across 23 states and 3 union territories in India.   The company is listed on the BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange) and NSE (National Stock Exchange). For more information about United Spirits Limited, our people, vision, brands, and performance visit us at www.unitedspirits.in.