Bengaluru, 24th September 2024: The Society for Automotive Fitness & Environment (SAFE), an initiative of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), organized its 25th SAFE Annual Convention 2024 under the Safe Journey (सुरक्षित सफर) initiative in Bengaluru, Karnataka. This year, the convention was focused on the theme “United Efforts for Road Safety: Our Roads, Our Responsibility,” the convention brought together distinguished dignitaries to discuss key strategies for promoting safe driving habits, improving road discipline and enhancing overall vehicle safety.
The 25th SAFE Annual Convention was graced by the presence of the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Karnataka, Shri Siddaramaiah, as the Chief Guest, along with the Guest of Honour, Shri D K Shivakumar, Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka. The conclave also saw participation from Guest of Honour, Dr Ramalinga Reddy, Hon’ble Transport Minister of Karnataka and Dr N V Prasad, IAS – Secretary of Transport, Govt of Karnataka, along with several other distinguished dignitaries. Industry experts from various corporations and OEMs shared their valuable insights, further enhancing the significance of the discussions and initiatives presented at the convention.
Welcoming the dignitaries and auto industry experts to the inaugural ceremony of the SAFE Annual Convention 2024, Mr Prashant K. Banerjee, Executive Director, SIAM, apprised the audience about the SIAM’s SAFE initiative and highlighted SIAM’s commitment and Karnataka government efforts in making roads safer in Karnataka and in India.
Chief Guest at the convention, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Karnataka,Shri Siddaramaiah, said, “Karnataka is prioritizing road safety with significant investments in infrastructure and technology. We are committed to reducing road traffic fatalities through enhanced traffic management systems in cities like Bengaluru and Mysuru, and rigorous enforcement of traffic laws. Our educational initiatives are embedding road safety awareness from an early age, ensuring a safer tomorrow. Furthermore, our move towards sustainable mobility with the acquisition of 5000 electric buses and the launch of the Shakti Scheme highlights our resolve to lead the nation in safe and green transportation.”
Addressing the inaugural session, Guest of Honour Shri D K Shivakumar, Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, said, “Karnataka, with a burgeoning population of 7 crore people and 3 crore vehicles, exemplifies a technological leap by incorporating technology to improve road safety particularly in Bangalore —our technological capital— where nearly two-thirds of the population grapples with vehicular congestion. Recognizing traffic and road safety as national concerns, we commend SIAM’s contributions and urge further industry collaboration to harness Bangalore’s tech prowess. By integrating AI into our police and transport operations, we aim to elevate our standards to international levels, enhancing daily life and ensuring the safety of our citizens.”
Guest of Honour, Dr Ramalinga Reddy, Hon’ble Transport Minister, Govt. of Karnataka, said, “As the leader in road safety initiatives, Karnataka is steadfastly improving infrastructure, enhancing enforcement, and upgrading emergency care to significantly reduce road fatalities and injuries. We are at the forefront of technological advancements in the transportation sector. Our comprehensive schemes and future plans, including the procurement of 5,000 electric buses, highlights our commitment to sustainable mobility. We aim to establish Bengaluru as the first net-zero city in India, setting a benchmark in environmental responsibility and urban transportation.”
The SIAM SAFE Context Paper, “Analysing India’s Imperatives for Road Safety,” was unveiled by the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Karnataka, Shri Siddaramaiah. on this occasion. The SIAM SAFE Context paper offers critical insights about India’s preparedness for safer roads.
The Hon’ble Chief Minister also launched several new road safety initiatives, including the SIAM and Transport Department Karnataka Road Safety Education Slogan Competition, a free eye check-up for 15,000 BMTC drivers in association with the Eicher Foundation and BMTC, and a helmet awareness drive in collaboration with Bengaluru Traffic Police and ICICI Lombard to promote road safety.
During the conclave, 10 individuals from KSRTC, BMTC, Education Department and Bengaluru Traffic Police were awarded for their outstanding contributions towards promoting road safety.
During the inaugural session, Mr Sushant Naik, President,SAFE and Global Head of Government & Public Affairs at Tata Motors Ltd, said, “Addressing road safety is urgent. We must reduce road traffic deaths by 50% by 2030, a goal set by the United Nations. The path to safer roads involves a comprehensive approach—Education, Engineering, Enforcement, and Emergency Care. We can learn from successful models like Sweden’s Vision Zero and Norway’s traffic management strategies, which have significantly lowered road fatalities. By integrating advancements like ADAS and enforcing stricter laws, we can achieve similar success.”
Concluding the inaugural session, Mr Alok Jaitley, Vice President, SAFE and EVP, Maruti Suzuki India, also shared his insights and perspectives on road safety in India.
The first plenary session, “ Leadership in Road Safety: Innovations and Initiatives“, was chaired and moderated by Mr Naveen Soni, Toyota Kirloskar Motor. Guest of Honour Dr N V Prasad, IAS, Secretary of Transport, Govt. of Karnataka, shared his perspectives on Education in Road Safety. He emphasised on the importance of the technology advancements with an example of how HSRP being used in tandem with ANPR can improve the response time of any accident significantly.
The session also included thematic presentations by Mr Ashim Sharma, Senior Partner, Nomura Research Institute Consulting, on ‘Road Safety – India’s journey so far and the way forward’; Dr Reji Mathai, Director, ARAI, on the “Role of Testing Agencies in Indian Road Safety”; Mr Prabhu Nagraj, Operating Officer, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India, on “Best Practices in Road Safety by HMSI”; Ms Pamela Tikku, VP – Auto Group Public Affairs, Mahindra & Mahindra, on “CSR Initiatives in Road Safety”; Mr Akhilesh Srivastava, President, ITS India Forum and Former NHAI on “Reimagining Road Safety- a paradigm shift with road safety 2.0″ and Mr. Nazeem Khan, Head – ICLM, Motor TP Claims & Litigation.
The second plenary session, “Emergency Response and Data-Driven Enforcement in Road Safety,” was chaired and moderated by Mr M S Anand Kumar, Senior General Manager – R&D (Homologation), TVS Motor Company. Guest of Honour Mr Harsh Gupta, IAS, Principal Secretary, Health, Govt of Karnataka, shared their perspectives on Road Safety.
The session also included presentations by Mr Devayan Dey, Partner, PwC India, on ‘Emergency Response and Data-Driven Enforcement in Road Safety’; Mr Kuldeep Kumar Jain, IPS, DCP (East), Bangalore Police, Govt of Karnataka ; Ms Shruti Adhav, Founder, Value Life Foundation, on “CPR Training: Saving Lives in Emergencies”; Mr Somenath Nag, Sr VP, Calsoft Digital Engg, on “Technology and Innovations in Road Safety” and Mr Roshan Jose, SAVE Life Foundation on “Leveraging Data-Driven Insights from Community Inputs to Enhance Road Safety”.
The third plenary session, titled “Technology and Innovation in Road Safety,” was moderated by Mr Alok Jaitley, Vice President, SAFE and EVP, Maruti Suzuki India. Special Guest Padma Shri Dr Narain Karthikeyan, India’s first Formula 1 Racing Driver, Guest of Honour Mr Rama Chandran, IAS, Managing Director, Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) and Smt Deepa Cholan, IAS, Commissioner, Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT), Karnataka, shared their perspectives on technology and innovation in road safety.
The session featured presentations from Mr Vishal Gupta, Executive Director, Deloitte; Mr Sunil Patil, Director, Engineering (ADAS & Safety Electronics), ZF Group Region India; Prof. Anindya Deb, CPDM, IISc, on “Vehicle Engineering and Light-weighting for Occupant Safety”; Ms Roli Agarwal, Head (Strategic Partnership), Google on “Role of AI in Road Safety” and Mr Kartick V Nagpal, President, Rosmerta Technologies on “Technological innovations in Road Safety – Challenges and Way Forward”.
SIAM has been driving the transition towards sustainable transportation through initiatives like the electrification of mobility (विद्युतीकरण), promoting ethanol in transport (जैविक पहल), improving recycling (चक्रीयता), bringing safety through Safe Journey (सुरक्षित सफर), developing gas-based mobility infrastructure (गैस गतिशीलता), and fostering the hydrogen fuel ecosystem (हरित हाइड्रोजन).
SIAM and its members have been actively collaborating with governments, corporations, and key stakeholders to promote safer mobility nationwide, in line with SIAM’s objective of Building the Nation Responsibly.
