Road Safety: Who's Game For A Selfie With Seat Belt Challenge?

HYDERABAD: An endeavour for raising awareness on road safety and the importance of wearing a seat belt has spurred the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport (IFAT) to start the #SelfieWithSeatBelt challenge in the year 2016.

Taking this further, the IFAT now aims not only for the drivers, but also for the co passengers to use the seat belts for road safety during journeys, said Shaikh Salauddin, National General Secretary of IFAT.

"The #SelfiewithSeatBelt challenge is being accepted by many people across India. It is fun, at the same time creates awareness among the public in a much quicker way," he said.

Speaking further he said that many people lose their lives in accidents not because of the impact of the accident itself, but because they don`t put on seat belts. 

He also stated that after this social media campaign, awareness in people increased  as the number of people wearing seat belts has increased to 89% by 2019.

According to a survey by the National Safety Council, nearly 75 percent of people in 2016 alone, killed on roads due to accidents were not wearing seat belts. People must understand that wearing a seat belt reduces the chance of major injury or death by 60%, Salauddin said.

Since the inception of the challenge, they have been able to create awareness among a large number of people. "I appeal to the people to always put on the seat belts during a journey and always drive with caution," he said