BackDiageo India starts campaign to curb drunken driving, underage drinking
Diageo will help train up to 3,000 police officers in traffic management and on laws covering drinking and driving
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Bangalore: The Indian arm of Diageo Plc, the world’s largest liquor company, has initiated a campaign to curb drunken driving and underage drinking, in association with road safety organizations and the Union government.
The company has tied up with the Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE), the ministry of road transport & highways and the International Road Federation (IRF) to try and reduce serious injuries and deaths related to drinking and driving.
The ‘Diageo Road to Safety’ programme spanning 30 cities across nine states aims to curb road accidents by working with police officers and focusing on preventing drunken driving, underage drinking and excessive drinking in India, said Abanti Sankaranarayanan, managing director of Diageo India.
According to data collected by Diageo, India accounts for more than 12% of the annual average of 1.24 million road fatalities around the world. In India, nearly 70% of these are caused by drunken driving, according to a 2011 report in The Hindu, which cited data by the Community Against Drunken Driving (CADD).
Over the next few decades, hundreds of millions of Indians will come of age, increasing the need to spread awareness about the dangers of excessive drinking to oneself and to others as well as clamp down on drinking and driving.
“We believe that efforts to reduce the misuse of alcohol are most effective when government, civil society, individuals and families, as well as the industry work together. This is a national programme that will be implemented in 30 cities in India and includes training and capacity building of enforcement agencies like the traffic police; distribution of high quality breath alcohol analyzers; training drivers of commercial vehicles such as school bus, truck and auto rickshaw drivers; and educating university students on the dangers of underage drinking," Sankaranarayanan said.
Diageo will help train up to 3,000 police officers in traffic management and on laws covering drinking and driving. The company is giving breath analyzers to police officers in 21 cities since many cities either don’t have analyzers or have faulty ones.
Diageo will also hold camps to train auto, bus and other drivers of commercial vehicles on responsible drinking and the effects of alcohol on driving.
To help curb underage drinking, representatives of the London-based company will also visit colleges to discourage students from drinking, and spread awareness about the dangers of drunken driving.
“Diageo is committed to preventing the harmful use of alcohol and has supported hundreds of creative and effective programmes across the world to raise awareness, change attitudes and shift behaviour," Sankaranarayanan said.
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