Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw has backed a road-safety initiative in Daman where owners of Mahindra Thar and Toyota Fortuner SUVs were asked to take a public oath to follow traffic rules and drive responsibly.
“I think India needs this kind of ‘schooling’ more than another driving lesson! Commendable move by the Daman Collector,” she wrote. A video shared by the Department of Information and Publicity of Daman on its official X account showed long queues of Thars and Fortuners lined up during the campaign, with owners taking the oath administered by the district collector. One user wrote, “More than this kind of schooling, I would be of the opinion that getting a driving license should be made really difficult. It is high time that the regulators and relevant authorities pull up their socks and do the work for which they are getting freebies from taxpayers money. “There is widespread violation of traffic rules not just by drivers of these makes. And none of these guys lack education about rules. Utter disregard for the safety of others needs to be severely punished,” commented another. “Rather he should have visited licensing department and review how training is done. Implement inescapable means for fines and make every vehicle owner accountable,” wrote a third user. “Problem is not with the owners of these vehicles, it’s with their children who consider themselves above the law.
Reacting to a video of the campaign on X, Mazumdar-Shaw said India needed more such “schooling” to improve driving behaviour. “Making Thar and Fortuner owners take an oath to drive safely, sometimes a little public pledge may work better than a thousand road signs!” she added. (Also Read: ‘Don’t taunt me as a billionaire’: Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw on Karnataka MLA’s remark on her tweet about poor roads ) The Daman administration recently organised the “Thar-Fortuner Sankalp Yatra”, bringing together owners of the two SUVs for a public pledge on responsible driving. The campaign also featured messages such as “Raftaar Nahi, Sanskaar” and “Bhaigiri Nahi, Zimmedari”, urging motorists to prioritise road safety over aggressive driving behaviour. (Also Read: Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw calls Bengaluru ‘garbage city’, shares vision of what it could have looked like ) The campaign drew mixed reactions from some users, with several arguing that public pledges alone would not address traffic violations. Best thing to do is to train them in parenting not driving,” said another.
