Toyota Launches Safety Education Programme In Namma Bengaluru

Bangalore (February 6, 2017): Toyota Kirloskar Motor, introduced a revised module of “Toyota Safety Education Program” (TSEP) to enhance the level of awareness and instill responsible behavior amongst school children on road safety. TSEP is an interactive learning program targeted at school children between the age group of 10-14 years which educates them at a young age on importance of road safety through a phase wise approach.  As a part of the initiative, school children from Police Public School KSRP Campus, Deeksha High School and The PTA School gathered at Madiwala traffic junction to create awareness amongst general public through mime on road safety, displaying safety placards, handing over road safety and assisting the traffic police.

The new TSEP module is focused on bringing in attitude change among school children. It is a step wise approach, a slow introduction of the concept to school children aiming for better retention of the awareness on important aspects of road safety. The program is an age group wise distribution of the know - how on road safety to school children from 5^thto 8^th class. In class 9^th, the children are encouraged to take up activities on voluntarily basis guided by teachers to educate the general public on road safety. As a part of the learning program children are engaged in mimes, slogan writing, drawing competition, class room sessions, quiz competitions, teaching the learnings of the TSEP to the younger class children. The emphasis is to demonstrate the projects on road safety in various platforms like parents – teacher meet, school assembly, public areas. All these activities are undertaken under the active leadership of the respective teachers from the school with the guidance from Toyota and implementing agency IL&FS. TKM aims to ultimately influence the general public and the parents of the children by setting an example through these young safety ambassadors.

Key Highlights of TSEP Module:

• It is a comprehensive program covering wide array of topics pertaining to road safety.
• Causes of road accidents
• First & How to respond during emergencies
• Road Etiquettes
• Civic Sense
• Maintenance of the vehicle
• Safety rules to be followed while using public transport or school bus.
• Safety rules for cyclists, pedestrians and two wheeler drivers
• Importance of Traffic Rules to be followed
• Consequences of traffic rule violation
• Minimum age of driving/riding, documents to be kept while driving & other aspects

According to a recent study conducted by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), about 1,374 accidents and 400 deaths take place every day on Indian roads which further translates into 57 accidents and loss of 17 lives on an average every hour in our country. In 2015, 54.1 per cent of the people killed in road accidents belonged to the 15-34 years age category.

Commenting on the occasion, Shekar Viswanathan, Vice Chairman & Whole-Time Director, Toyota Kirloskar Motor said, “We are happy to launch the revised module of Toyota Safety Education Programme.  Education is the most effective way to bring in a constructive change in the society. As safety leader, it is our endeavor to ensure safety of every road user.  We believe that if we educate these children at this young age, it will mould them into responsible citizens oftomorrow. Being a responsible auto manufacturer, our focus is not only on manufacturing safe cars but to also create a positive behavioural change in the society towards safe road practices.  We acknowledge the support from Bangalore Traffic Police and the schools for their dedicated support towards this campaign”.

The program was launched as a pilot project in 2007 in Bangalore which was quickly followed in 2008 by a national launch across all metropolitan cities. The new module has been implemented in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor has been consistently engaged in Road Safety initiatives since 2005 through various pan India campaigns. In the area of traffic safety, Toyota is addressing traffic safety through integration of people, cars, and the traffic environment with the aim of completely eliminating traffic casualties.

Launched in line with the company’s vision of “Safest car with safest driver”, TKM has launched Toyota Driving School across India in cities like Kochi, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Chennai. With the launch of Toyota Driving School across India, the company aims to bring down the rising number of road accidents caused majorly due to human error.  The training module will integrate technical expertise along with enhancing behavioral skills to create awareness about safety nationwide.