Indian ride-sharing company Ola has launched ‘Street Safe’, a nationwide program to strengthen road and ride safety. The initiative integrates Ola’s safety efforts including the recently instituted Safety Council and other safety programs under one umbrella. The countrywide program was flagged off from India Gate, New Delhi on Tuesday.
The program involves partnering with stakeholders across the mobility ecosystem, including local authorities, safety experts, and NGOs to impact safety on a large scale. Key elements of Street Safe to include entering into local partnerships to strengthen road and ride safety for commuters across the country, creating awareness for three key causes of road fatalities in India; drinking and driving, texting and driving, and over speeding and conducting workshops and trainings for driver partners across the country. These include organising gender sensitization workshops for 1 million driver partners in India.
“Safety is a serious concern for all of us. Statistics show that one serious road accident occurs in the country every minute. As a safety-first organization, Ola, through its Street Safe program is delighted to collaborate with all stakeholders involved in public safety including the Delhi Police. Given Ola’s tech prowess and country-wide reach, our road and ride safety initiatives being launched through public-private partnerships are bound to bring in measurable impact,” Pranav Mehta, General Manager at Ola said in a statement.
This in addition to the other safety-related initiatives launched by Ola. Ola launched an initiative in line with the Government’s commitment to halve road fatalities in India by 2020 as part of the Brasilia Declaration. These multi-pronged efforts range from discouraging drunk driving through campaigns such as #PeekeMatChala, to forming a first of its kind Safety Council for ride sharing industry, globally. The council brings together organisations and individual achievers from various sectors viz. urban transport, climate change, women’s safety, security management, traffic management, and emergency management services.