Coimbatore District Collector Pavankumar IAS launched 'Naan Uyir Kavalan',  Coimbatore’s largest road safety campaign on Saturday.  This campaign is created by Coimbatore District Administration, Coimbatore City Police and UYIR - an NGO working in the field of road safety, with the aim to make Coimbatore an accident-free city for a week.

The launch event was attended Sivaguru Prabhakaran IAS, Commissioner, Coimbatore City Corporation; Dr. S. Rajasekaran, Managing Trustee of UYIR Trust; S.Malarvizhi, Chairperson and Managing Trustee, Sri Krishna Institutions and Trustee, UYIR Trust and by some of the most prominent leaders in industry, academia and charity.

In the year 2023, Coimbatore city registered 1,261 road traffic accidents, out of that 298  were fatal accidents, claiming 305 deaths. In the year 2024, totally 1,178 road traffic accidents were reported, and out of that 288 were fatal accidents costing 297 lives.

Although the accident-figures are showing a slight decrease, loss of lives on road is a major concern. This year, at least 147 persons died due to road accidents in Coimbatore city, according to reports.

"India registers the highest road accidents in the world, and in Tamil Nadu, Coimbatore is the 2nd city to register higher number of accidents. It is often under the top 3 such cities in the State," said Dr.S.Rajasekaran of Ganga Hospital and the Mananging Trustee of UYIR Trust said during the launch of this campaign.

He shared that when he spoke to 780 road-accident victims in his hospital, 59% of them regretted that they would not be in this situation if they had driven their vehicles responsibly. "70% of road accidents could be cut if we are responsible on roads," he emphasized.

With 'Naan Uyir Kavalan', the organizers of  this campaign aim to take road-safety awareness to a wider audience across Coimbatore. To achieve that, they have planned to conduct a massive pledge-taking program on October 6th.

The organizers are targeting 10 lakh participants to commit to the road safety pledge, reinforcing their promise to follow traffic rules and save lives. It will be administered by the Collector. From October 6th to12th, a series of impactful activities are planned to take the awareness to the masses.

Sivaguru Prabhakaran IAS said that Coimbatore Corporation will extend its full co-operation to spread the 'Accident-Free' week campaign among the public.

District Collector Pavankumar IAS said that most victims of road accidents are between the ages 18-25. As these accidents create irreparable losses to victims and their families, he appealed the co-operation of educational institutions and industries to help take this message of  accident-free Coimbatore to their students and employees.  He said that District Administration will also take measures to spread the message through ration shops.