Mahindra and Arrive Alive partner for Safer Drives, Safer Lives
Mahindra and ArriveAlive.co.za are taking to the road to help drive road safety awareness across South Africa.
The two entities have signed an agreement to help improve South African motorists’ awareness of road safety principles and responsible road use. They will also work together to educate motorists about the importance of vehicle safety equipment.
Called “Safer drives, Safer lives”, the information campaign will build on a similar campaign by Mahindra in India, where it recently received the Safer Choice Award from the Global New Car Assessment Programme (GNCAP). This Award was given to Mahindra for achieving the highest crash test score ever recorded for a vehicle in this country.
The GNCAP has since ratified its crash-test score for the same model – the XUV300 – in South Africa, giving it a full five-star vehicle safety rating and making it the safest vehicle ever tested for the South African market and ranked first on its #SaferCarsForAfrica rankings.
“Vehicle safety awareness is very often neglected in favour of performance features or creature comforts. We would like to educate the public to also consider a vehicle’s safety credentials and to understand the role and operation of the various safety features in their vehicle,” says Rajesh Gupta, CEO of Mahindra South Africa.
The Safer Drives, Safer Lives campaign kicks off in cyberspace, with an educational series focused on the vehicle safety equipment and how to use it effectively. This series will also aim to educate the public on the difference between active and passive safety equipment and on the role that responsible driving plays in ensuring Safer Drives, Safer Lives.
“South Africa has a very high road accident and fatality rate and all too often the cause is linked to driver error and a misunderstanding of vehicle dynamics and safety equipment. We hope to address this with the Safer Drives, Safer Lives campaign and look forward to working with the team at Mahindra South Africa,” says Advocate Johan Jonck, manager of the ArriveAlive.co.za initiative.
The campaign will kick off on www.arrivealive.co.za and its various social media channels with a series on vehicle safety equipment and crash-test ratings. This will include features on passive safety equipment like ISOFIX anchor points for child seats, airbags and side impact bars and dynamic safety equipment like ABS brakes with electronic brake-force distribution.
“Once our online campaign is firmly established, we will hit the road with our upgraded XUV300 for a series of fun and educational safety events across South Africa. Here, we will demonstrate the role of different safety features and the importance of safe and defensive driving to media and the public,” says Rajesh.
The road safety campaign will kick off in Mpumalanga and make its way through Gauteng, the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.
