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New Campaign in Mumbai Shows Life-Saving Benefit of Helmets

(New York, USA) – On Saturday, Nov. 17, the eve of the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, the Mumbai Traffic Police launched a new media campaign to promote proper helmet use and released the Mumbai Road Safety Report 2017.

 

Joint Commissioner of Police Amitesh Kumar announced the media campaign, “Consequences,” which will run on social media for one month using the hashtag #ClickforSafety, and on display throughout the city. The Mumbai Traffic Police will also conduct heightened enforcement operations during the campaign.

According to the report released at the same time, Mumbai has recorded a 20 percent reduction in the number of road crash deaths (from 611 deaths in 2015 to 490 in 2017) since the city began partnering with the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety. Still, 38 percent of the city’s road deaths in 2017 were motorcyclists, with poor helmet use indicated as a key risk contributing to deaths and injuries.

“We know that proper helmet use can reduce the risk of death by almost 40 percent if a crash occurs,” said Sandra Mullin, Senior Vice President for Policy, Advocacy and Communication at Vital Strategies. “The strong commitment by the Mumbai Traffic Police to address low proper helmet use by both conducting strict enforcement operations and supporting media campaigns is critical to changing deadly behavior. We are proud to support Mumbai’s ongoing efforts to save lives.”

Only 43 percent of motorcycle drivers were found to wear helmets strapped in accordance with the Motor Vehicles Act, while fewer than 1 percent of pillion riders (motorcycle passengers) properly wear helmets. This data fueled the development of the “Click for Safety” campaign to increase proper helmet use.

Mumbai, India, is one of 10 cities that is implementing a variety of measures proven to save lives on the roads through the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety. Vital Strategies is an implementing partner of the initiative, providing technical assistance to the Mumbai Traffic Police for both the media campaign and the creation of the Mumbai Road Safety Report 2017.

The campaign’s public service announcement shows the deadly consequences of not properly wearing a helmet in the event of a crash, then illustrates lifesaving effect of properly wearing a helmet.

At the launch event one crash victim told his personal story of survival when he properly wore his helmet and was in a motorcycle crash.

About the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety

The Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS) works with the world’s leading road safety organizations to implement road safety activities and coordinate with in-country governmental and non-governmental stakeholders. BIGRS places an emphasis on achieving outcomes, and on using high-quality monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to continually assess progress.

About Vital Strategies

Vital Strategies is a global health organization that believes every person should be protected by a strong public health system. Our team combines evidence-based strategies with innovation to help develop and implement sound public health policies, manage programs efficiently, strengthen data systems, conduct research, and design strategic communication campaigns for policy and behavior change. To find out more, please visit vstrategystage.wpengine.com or Twitter @VitalStrat. For further information or to arrange an interview with a Vital Strategies public health and road safety expert, please contact press@vitalstrategies.org.