On the roads of Vijayawada, you may have seen this strange but inspiring sight: A 9-year-old old on a cycle, with a helmet on, spreading the message of “Use Your Helmet” with a signboard. This young road safety warrior is T Jayachandra Prasad, who attracted a lot of attention at the recently held ‘Run for Unity’.

Not only did he catch the eye of other participants, even the city police was inspired by the school student. Appreciating his passion to campaign for road safety, some of the officers took him to the city Police Commissioner Gautam Sawang, who greeted the excited boy and presented him with a gift that had him thrilled: A new bicycle!

Jayachandra is a Class 4 student at the Ravindra Bharthi Public School in the city, and he likes to spend his leisure time campaigning for helmet use. “I met commissioner sir, I am very happy that I'm getting a new bicycle,” Jayachandra said. “I will now use the new cycle for my helmet campaign.”

Speaking to TNM, Jayachandra said that he is planning to take out a campaign on Children’s Day. “That way, every father will realise the importance of helmets,” he said.

"I will continue to spread the message for road safety. Many are losing lives because of riding without helmets,” he added.

Appreciating the boy, Commissioner Gautam said, "Indeed, it's our collective responsibility to work for road safety. We all must get inspired by Jayachandra."

Jayachandra’s proud father T Prasad says the little boy doesn’t spare family either when it comes to using helmets. “He questions everyone a lot. He never lets anyone in the family ride without helmets,” Prasad said.