Safer Roads, Safer India campaign

UL (Underwriters Laboratories), a prominent global safety science company and Ashoka, a working community of 3,000 social entrepreneurs, have jointly announced a global competition to crowdsource innovations that enhance road safety.

Every hour 19 people are killed and 40 are disabled due to road accidents in India. While the government, NGOs, active citizens and organisations are aware of the crisis and certain steps have been initiated, road deaths and accidents continue to climb. Underlining the need for new solutions, UL and Ashoka are partnering to activate road safety networks in India. As a first step towards realising this goal, the “Safer Roads, Safer India” competition aims to identify the best solutions in the following categories.

• Active Citizenship (e.g. innovative awareness campaigns)

• Technology (e.g. use of everyday technologies like GPS and smart phones)

• Policy and Governance (e.g. improving bystander response)

• Smart urban design (e.g. better pedestrian facilities)

One winner will be chosen per category. A panel of safety experts and thought leaders led by Prof. Dinesh Mohan, Henry Ford Professor for Biomechanics and Transportation Safety, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi will pick the winning ideas for their innovation, ease of implementation, impact and sustainability. The winners will be awarded prizes of INR 300,000 each. In addition to the above four categories there will be two additional prizes: most innovative idea and people’s choice idea. One of the selected ideas will be piloted in Bangalore.

The details of the competition can be found at www.changemakers.com/saferoads.