India has among the highest road fatality rates in the world with one life lost to road accidents every 4 minutes, according to a 2018 report published by the Government of India.

This alarming situation serves as the backdrop for Mahindra’s new ‘Safer Drives Safer Lives’ campaign which includes a multi-city drive to champion the cause of road safety. Launched in partnership with the SaveLIFE Foundation, the campaign aims to promote road safety through a host of actions ranging from building awareness of safe driving practices to the right use of the safety capabilities of a vehicle.

“The status of road safety in India is alarming, hence we have decided to take on the mantle and bring road safety into the fore through this Safer Drives Safer Lives campaign,” said Veejay Nakra, CEO, Automotive Division, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.

As part of the campaign, over 30 automotive journalists participated in the ‘Safer Drives Safer Lives’ drive, in the Mahindra XUV300 Compact SUV across Mumbai, New Delhi and Chennai on September 15 to raise awareness about ‘On-road Safety’. The drive was followed by a string of safety activities that ranged from sharing important facts about India’s road safety situation, to engaging driving activities.

The XUV300, certified as India’s safest vehicle by the Global NCAP, has the best scores for Adult & Child safety and goes beyond the regulatory norms on pedestrian safety. And this is true for all its variants. Given the current times, Mahindra has organized the Safety Drive with utmost care, hygiene & safety norms, as well as enforced maximum possible social distancing throughout.

SaveLIFE Foundation, an independent, non-profit non-governmental organization committed to saving lives on roads, is collaborating with Mahindra & Mahindra in the campaign. Commenting about the Mahindra Group’s role, Piyush Tewari, Founder, SaveLIFE Foundation said, "M&M has long been a champion of road safety, having contributed to drastically reducing fatalities on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway through a cross-sectoral partnership model, training thousands of drivers, and by building India’s safest vehicle."