Lead by example, they say, and Mahindra did just that by choosing their safest vehicle—the XUV300—to conduct Mahindra's 'Safer Drives Safer Lives' multi-city drive, to raise awareness on road safety. A joint initiative by SaveLIFE Foundation and Mahindra XUV300, the event saw participation from over 30 automotive journalists across New Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai on September 15, 2020.

Mahindra Safety Drive convoy
Mahindra XUV300 safety drive convoy at Koncept Mahindra, GurgaonMahindra

The drive was followed by a string of safety activities that ranged from sharing important facts about India's road safety situation to engaging driving activities. As a part of these activities, the journalists experienced the life-saving impact of XUV300's safety features on passenger and pedestrian safety in tricky, day-to-day driving situations. The demonstrations were done by Arjuna Awardee, and India's ace rally driver, Gaurav Gill.

Gaurav Gill driving the XUV 300
Gaurav Gill and the XUV 300Mahindra

XUV300 for safety drive

Mahindra claims that their XUV300 has the best scores for Adult & Child safety and goes beyond the regulatory norms on pedestrian safety. The company also adds that this is true for all its variants, including the base variant which starts from just Rs 7.95 lakh (ex-showroom).

Speaking on the 'Safer Drives Safer Lives' campaign, Veejay Nakra, CEO, Automotive Division, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., said, "Mahindra has a long-standing reputation for building vehicles that are reliable, trustworthy and safe. We have constantly raised the bar for safety, going beyond regulatory requirements, voluntarily. Our XUV300, which is India's safest vehicle among all the vehicles tested by GNCAP in India over last 6 years, is a testimony to that."

Mahindra Safety Drive briefing
Gaurav Gill addressing auto journalistsMahindra

Mr. Nakra added, "However, the status of road safety in India is alarming, hence we have decided to take on the mantle and bring road safety into the fore through this 'Safer Drives Safer Lives' campaign. To kick-start it, we have partnered with one of India's most active outfits in the road safety space – SaveLIFE foundation, for a multi-city drive with Auto experts, who are our 'champions of safety'. XUV300 will continue to take many more actions to raise awareness for road safety under this banner."

Mahindra XUV 300
We drove the Mahindra XUV 300 petrolMahindra

SaveLIFE Foundation is an independent, non-profit non-governmental organization committed to saving lives on roads in India and beyond. It's is a strong advocate for better road safety and has undertaken many grass-root level initiatives as well as impacted policy to bring a permanent change in road safety and emergency care in India.

Piyush Tewari, Founder, SaveLIFE Foundation, said, "Road crashes can certainly be prevented when all stakeholders come together and take proactive action. M&M has long been a champion of road safety, having contributed to drastically reducing fatalities on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway through a cross-sectoral partnership model, training thousands of drivers, and by building India's safest vehicle. We are delighted to be partnering with them once again to make roads safe for all."

According to a report published by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India in 2018, India has among the highest road fatality rates in the world, with one life lost to road accidents every 4 minutes. Increased awareness is the only way to reverse this statistic.

Mahindra Safety Drive registrations
Mahindra safety drive media registrationMahindra

SaveLIFE Foundation says that

- they fix roads: through crash investigations and smart engineering design, thereby making streets and highways safer for everyone.
- they strengthen emergency trauma services: with support from ambulance operators, police forces, and emergency medical teams, they train first responders in life-saving skills and bridge gaps between road crashes and the delivery of urgent trauma care.
- they design impactful policies: working in partnership with government agencies, industry, and grassroots organisations, they create and advocate for regulations that eliminate unsafe driving behaviors and enforce traffic laws to protect all road users.
- they have reduced road crash deaths on India's dangerous Mumbai-Pune Expressway by 43 per cent.
- they secured India's first Good Samaritan Law to protect bystanders when helping road crash victims.
- their technology helps ambulances reach Delhi's residents as fast as possible during the COVID-19 crisis.
- their ambition is to save 1 million lives by 2027.