ICICI-WIAA to hold road safety week from January 2

Mumbai, Dec 28 (UNI) ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Ltd and Western India Automobile Association (WIAA), the country's premier automobile association, will jointly organise ''ICICI Lombard-WIAA Road Safety Week 2007'' from January 2 to 8 in the metropolis.

The safety week will be inaugurated by Director General of Police Dr P S Pasricha on Tuesday at Marine Drive in South Mumbai. The safety week aims to create awareness among the people and emphasise the importance of safe driving thereby attempting to address the safety aspects of vulnerable road users -- pedestrians and fellow motorists.

Addressing a joint news conference, WIAA executive chairman Nitin Dossa said ''Our roads are not made for Lancers and Mercedes.

Youngsters indulge in lot of ruthless and rash driving. The reason for increase in accidents is that the number of vehicles on the road is increasing due to availability of easy finance.'' Giving statistics, he said ''Approximately, there are 55,000 rickshaws, one lakh cabs, 4.9 lakh private cars and 7.14 lakh two-wheelers on the roads.'' ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Ltd Head (Marketing) Kartik Jain said ''Insurance is essentially about risk management and with the increase in the number of vehicles on our roads, we are actively promoting the cause of safe driving. As a part of our social obligation, we also assist in the production and review of driver handbook, risk management guides and traffic barricades across the city.'' ''Our 24x7 helpline in-house surveyors and cashless access to over 1,200 garages and 3,500 hospitals across India offer our customers speedy and convenient claims settlement,'' he added.

A WIAA study on road safety revealed that the incidence of road accidents had increased to every 6th second in this year from every 10th second last year.

Statistics reveal that this year, the Mumbai traffic police reported 8,368 instances of rash driving, 957 instances of drunken driving, 14,709 cases of over speeding and 593 cases of death resulting from road accidents.

Some of the activities that would be conducted during the safety week are free PUC check-up, break check-up and fluid and oil check-up, besides free eye check-up and blood donation camps at various locations across Mumbai.

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