“Drive Smart Drive Safe (Club D2S)”, a Delhi-based NGO, recently organized a walkathon to generate awareness on road safety and its 
different aspects which was supported by various schools in Dwarka. In the morning hours of the day over 400 students walked for the cause of making “Dwarka an Accident Free Zone”. These students, along with other volunteers, walked from Sector 6 crossing to Ashirwaad Chowk.
The latest data about road accidents in India clearly shows that there is one death every four minutes and one accident every minute. Therefore, Club D2S came up with the intention of spreading awareness to create a sense of responsibility among the public, particularly drivers, towards safe driving.
The walkathon was supported by BGS School, Sarawati Model School, Rashtriya Pratibha Vikas Vidyalaya Sector-10 and the Delhi Traffic Police. The students played a very critical role as they showed their responsibility with regard to strict adherence to all safety rules on road. They interacted with drivers on the best practices on road. They also distributed safety-related material and completed the walk with great enthusiasm.
The NGO proposes to carry out similar walks at different locations in Delhi and later extend it to other cities all over India. Reduction in the number of deaths due to road accidents is the ultimate aim of this initiative.
A number of citizens, civil society members, traffic police personnel and scores of road safety volunteers participated in the walkathon. During the walk, people were sensitized to basic safety rules to be followed on the road.
A similar walkathon was earlier arranged in Chandigarh. Also “Highway Halla Bol”, another mass awareness campaign, was done at Panipat with NHAI.
D2S will continue promoting road safety and related campaigns to reduce fatalities on roads attributed to poor visibility, driver negligence and fatigue, violation of safety norms, drunken driving, over-speeding, lane cutting, etc.
Drive Smart Drive Safe
The growing motorization in India has brought with it the adverse challenge of road accidents which lead to the death of the driver himself, passengers and the general public, besides causing enormous loss of property. As per the study done by MORTH, the question of road safety in India deserves better attention. During 2011, there were around 4.98 lakh road accidents which killed 1.34 lakh people and injured more than five lakh persons, many of whom are disabled for life. These numbers translate into one road accident every minute and one road accident death in less than four minutes.
D2S’ overall aim to educate people on road safety and reduction in the incidence of road accidents and deaths. For the purpose, the general public ought to be educated through awareness rallies, safety campaigns, street plays, and special electronic and social media campaigns for reducing the number of accidents. The focus will be on strengthening the connect with the citizens towards best practices in vehicle maintenance and upkeep, ensuring proper visibility and adequate signalling devices.