New Delhi: Owners of over 150 Mahindra Thar and Toyota Fortuner were asked to assemble in a compound in Daman on Tuesday, with their SUVs lined up in neat rows. It wasn’t a product recall, but part of an initiative by the Daman administration to promote road safety. At the programme, District Collector Saurabh Mishra administered an oath to the car owners to drive responsibly and not flout traffic rules.
This comes as a few SUVs, including Mahindra’s Thar and Scorpio, Hyundai Creta, and Toyota Fortuner, have earned a reputation for causing a nuisance and blatantly breaking traffic rules. Multiple videos have surfaced on social media showing owners of these cars driving on footpaths, honking incessantly, and jumping traffic signals.
At the “Thar/Fortuner Sankalp Yatra”, organised in Transport Nagar in Daman, car owners took a pledge not to indulge in “bhaigiri” and behave responsibly. A video, posted by the Department of Information & Publicity of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu on X on Wednesday, showed over 150 SUVs parked in the compound with their owners reading out the oath from a paper.
A march was also flagged off at the event where men carried placards reading “bhaigiri cool nahi hai”, “raftaar nahi, sanskaar”, “gaadi mein baithkar ‘area mera hai bolta hai’”?
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‘Better than road signs’
The oath was administered by Daman District Collector Saurabh Mishra, who asked the drivers to promise that they will not exceed the speed limit, drink and drive, perform stunts, race or drift, and that they will also not let others indulge in irresponsible driving.
The initiative drew mixed reactions from social media users. While some called for its replication in other parts of the country, others questioned the decision to pick out the owners of only two SUVs.
“NCR needs to repeat this ASAP,” wrote a user.
Biocon Executive Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw called the initiative “commendable”, saying that it is better than “a thousand road signs”.
“I think India needs this kind of “schooling” more than another driving lesson! Commendable move by the Daman Collector. 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 wrote on X.
Another quipped, “At least the roads were safer for the duration of this ceremony”.
One suggested using AI to track such drivers and slap a fine on them when they break a traffic rule.
“Feeling bad for Creat and Scorpio owners,” a comment read.