New Delhi: Luxury car company Mercedes-Benz India’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Martin Schwenk on Thursday said strict adherence to road safety rules and traffic norms is essential to bring down the number of road accidents and deaths in the country needed. Schwenk, who is here to attend the annual meeting of SIAM, an association of vehicle manufacturers, said in a conversation with PTI that there is no significant gap in the rules related to road safety but there is a need to follow them more strictly.
“If everyone follows the rules, we will see a significant drop in road accidents and this applies to all types of vehicles – two-wheeler, three-wheeler, and four-wheeler,” he said. Recently, after the death of former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry in a road accident, the issue of road safety is in the news. Mistry was traveling in a Mercedes SUV with his acquaintances at the time of the accident.
Referring to the incident, Schwenk said, “Mistry’s unfortunate death has brought the road safety agenda into the discussion in a different way. Every year around 1.5 lakh people die in road accidents in India. A top Mercedes India official said that there is a lack of implementation of road safety regulations in the country rather than in practice.
“By adopting the existing rules and implementing them properly, fatal accidents on Indian roads can be brought down significantly,” he said. Asked about the importance given to safety in Mercedes vehicles, he said, “The company has not only focused on the product front but has also been involved in making the safest vehicles. I would still say that we have been on the forefront of vehicular safety.”
