Todt visits India for road safety event
FIA president Jean Todt was in India, on Wednesday, for Cine Art: Steer to Safety programme organised to raise awareness about road safety.
Jean Todt, FIA President
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The event held in the country's capital, Delhi, saw 200 schools participating, where 10 short films were showed on road rules and etiquette.
The 'Cine Art: Steer to Safety' award was handed to 20 of the participating schools, which made the 10 films, by Todt.
"Road Safety is a global scourge, and 90% of road accidents occur in low and middle-income countries, including India," the Frenchman said in an interview to Live Mint.
"Over 15% of the global road fatalities happen in India. And while this is the second largest country in the world (in terms of population), it is simply unacceptable.
"In India, we are supported by the Federation of Indian Automobile Associations (FIAA) and partners such as Michelin and PVR," he continued.
"It is about educating children about road safety. As the U.N. Special Envoy for Road Safety, this sort of scenario is unacceptable—and we know what can be done."
Todt said, that him and FIA have 'initiated a high-level panel which includes Ratan Tata [India's top business tycoon] as one of its members.'
The FIA head added that he is encouraged with his partners' progress, in raising awareness, in the subcontinent, with the International Road Federation, led by chairman Kiran K Kapila.
Motor sport tool for road safety
Todt is of the view that a lot of safety measures used in motor sport can be applied on road vehicles.
"A lot has been done to improve the safety of the cars, improvements to circuits and equipment [in motorsport], it is absolutely outstanding," he said.
"A lot of that research can be applied on normal vehicles running on normal roads. Electronic Stability Control (ESC) feature is one example.
"We all now speak about connected cars, but this has existed in racing for many years now. A lot of technology and improvements around tyres and brakes are now coming from motor racing."
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