In continuation of project activities of Car Safety Initiative Consumer VOICE  along with partners Janaki and Rudra Foundations organised a workshop in Ranchi on 10th August at conference hall of Institute of Public Health,Namkum ,Ranchi Jharkhand.

Ms.Rinki Sharma in her introductory session told about the objectives of this initiative and also discussed various aspects of Car Safety in present scenario.She has discussed about safety features of seat belts, air bags, Automatic Breaking System (ABS),importance of safety features in vehicles especially in cars.

Further she also discussed about various steps taken on the global front and in Indian scenario such as Bharat New Vehicle Safety assessment Programme.

A short documentary film based on real life experiences of the victim/victim’s family members was shown to the audience. They appreciated the efforts through short film to make people aware about importance of safety aspects.

Another short video was shown to audience on safety belts and their importance.

Shri Vinay Kumar of Maruti Motor Driving Training School and Shri Tariq, experts from automobile sector discussed various safety aspects while driving on roads and how these safety features play an important role in today’s fast changing scenario. They discussed with audience through interactive session about technologies involved, how safety features works and why they are important.

They also asked audience to ask queries on safety features from manufacturers /car dealers while buying cars.

Shri Saket Singh of Rudra Foundation told that consumers prefer colour designinteriors and comfort over safety features while buying a car.He has also urged the audience to spread the message across and demand for basic safety features to be mandatory in all cars to government.

Shri Anjum of Prajwala foundation also emphasized on implementation of BNCAP without delay in consumer friendly way.

Consumers, representatives from Consumer and Civil Society Organsations, students and women participated in the programme with great enthusiasm .There was an interactive session of question answer and queries were answered by experts.

Consumer Voice in collaboration with its state partner Hand for Help, Jaipur organized a workshop on Car Safety at Hotel Savi on July 14, 2017.

The main objective of the workshop was to generate awareness among the consumers on safety features of cars and about ‘Bharat New Vehicle Safety Assessment Programme’, which ensures that vehicles should be fitted with safety equipments.

Mr. Arjun Kant Jha, Office Bearer, Hand for Help in his welcome speech mentioned that earlier cars were supposed to be the safest vehicle because only selected categories of vehicles were available. Now the situation has changed because of economic empowerment resulting into increased number of cars. Hence, today victimization of car wheelers is second after two wheelers.

Sh. Hemant Upadhyay, Senior Advisor from Consumer VOICE in his introductory opening told in brief about Consumer VOICE initiatives in constitution of various consumer friendly laws in India. Further on the subject he mentioned that Indian government is taking steps towards harmonization of national regulations of safety standards for passenger cars with UN-ECE regulations. ‘Bharat New Vehicle Safety Assessment Programme’ which will be voluntary from October, 2017 and mandatory by October, 2020.

30% of the fatalities can be prevented by only adopting safety gadgets in our cars. While purchasing the car, people usually first bargain on prices and/or demand for comfortable devices along with musical instruments and also car colours are on priority. There is no demand or query from car consumers for safety gadgets. Through the presentation, he showed the importance of car safety instruments in saving lives. A video was shown to understand the need of safety gadgets in cars.

Smt. Prerana Singh, Managing Trustee, People’s Trust and Centre Coordinator, Centre for Road Safety said people more often discuss on prices of cars, its look/design and power and there is dearth of discussion on safety aspects available in car. On preventing measures in car she highlighted the people’s attitude, behavior, road conditions along with presence or absence of safety gadgets responsible for averting accidents.

Shri Girish, President, All India Motor Driving School Association told that it is one of the much needed activity to be enforced strictly because majority of the families are having cars without any safety guard. As we Indians are in the habit of multitasking, hence during travel we enjoy listening to music, talking over phone and even eating. Therefore, under such scenario car safety gadgets are the only instrument for minimizing accidents.

Audience appreciated the documentary of road accident victims shown during the meeting. There was a question answer session where experts cleared the queries of participants.

The workshop was participated by 51 NGOs and Motor Driving Schools, representatives from civil societies of  Jaipur city.

Consumer VOICE, in collaboration with its state partner Rajkot Saher Jilla Grahak Suraksha Mandal , Rajkot organized a  workshop on Car Safety on July 13, 2017 at Government Circuit House Shahibaugh, Ahemdabad.

The main objective of the programme is to spread a message that safer cars are needed on Indian roads to save the precious lives.

The welcome speech at the seminar was delivered by Smt. Ramaben Mavani, President, Rajkot Saher Jilla Grahak Suraksha Mandal. She welcomed all the leading dignitaries and audience present at the event and added Safety remains a top concern for new-car shoppers, and fortunately, today’s modern cars offer more occupant protection and accident avoidance technologies than the typical model being traded in.

Ramjibhai Mavani, Founder President Rajkot Saher Jilla Grahak Suraksha Mandal, gave the back ground of the seminar. He further went on to say that new technologies offer potential benefits, such as blind-spot detection and forward-collision warning systems.

Shri Hemant Upadhyay,Senoir Advisor at Consumer VOICE, showed a  Film on Car Safety also gave presentation as well at the seminar. He concluded his speech by giving guidelines and knowledge to the consumers on the theme. Shri J.N. Barevadia, R.T.O, Ahmedabad said that Comprehension of the ESC campaign was strong, with three in four correctly identifying a key message. Shri Radheshyam Raval, Car Insurance Surveyor, The Oriental Insurance Company Limited,  Shri D.H. Vadher, Development Officer (Motor Technical), Oriental Insurance Company Limited, Ahmedabad share their views on the subject matter.

Shri Sreeraj Rajan, Dealer – in House Trainer Sales & Quality  Manager, Emerald Luxury Cars, said  Buckle up and  use of seat belts saved the lives of 13,000 people in 2008. Shri. Kanjibhai Faldu, from Kishan Sewa Sangh, Rajkot delivered his relevant speech at the seminar on the “Car Safety”

Shri Chirag Dhorada, from Roger Road Accident Prevention Organization said that “Be safe” but “drive safely.”

The programme  followed by question and answer session and the consumers  present at the seminar asked their respective questions to the dignitaries Representatives from Consumer Organisations, civil societies media attended the event in mass.

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Consumer VOICE,in collaboration with its state partner Citizen Awareness Grouporganized a  workshop on Car Safety at Press Club in Chandigarh on June, 21, 2017.

The main objective of the programme is to spread a message that safer cars are needed on Indian roads to save the precious lives. Car safety issues were deliberated during the workshop to make consumers aware of different car safety aspects including basic standards and requirements.

Commenting on the subject, Shri Hemant Upadhyay, advisor IT, VOICE said, “India is World’s sixth largest Car Market and 2.03 million passenger cars are sold in India as per last year’s data. India has been witnessing a spurt in road accidents resulting in the largest number of road deaths and injuries.  One of the major reasons behind high causalities in road accidents in the lack of safety features in Indian cars, specially the basic models which sell the most”.

Emphasizing on the need of safety features in the car the representative from Traffic Police, Chandigarh Shri Rajinder Singh, Head Constable, gave various tips on road safety. Besides local car dealers includedGunam Singh General Manager Maruti, Chandigarh Sandeep Deewan and Munish Bansal talked about what should customers looks in car which can save their precious lives in case of any untoward incident.

Shri SurinderVerma,Chairman , Citizen Awareness Group, said, “While buying a car consumers should give preference to safety features not, just its looks, price and other luxuries. Moreover, no real urgency is shown by car manufacturers to incorporate safety features.The event also highlighted the  proposed government regulations to make some of these features mandatory for new cars from 1st October 2017 and for all cars by 1st October 2018”.The workshop marked the presence of people from civil societies, students, lawyers, media etc.

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