Ahmedabad: Accident killed his son, homage drives his road-safety mission

AHMEDABAD: In September 2014, Vaibhav, 19, a Prahladnagar resident and BBA student, died on the SG Road when his two-wheeler was hit by a private bus. He had succumbed to injuries on the spot.
“He had worn a helmet, as always. A young, promising life was lost forever,” said Atul Agarwal, Vaibhav’s father and the unit head of a textile unit in Silvassa.“It affected me deeply and set me thinking about the ways to reduce fatalities on our roads,” he said. “I then established Jagriti Foundation the same year.”
The death established the fact that it’s not enough for a few riders/road users to follow the rules. As a homage to his son, Agarwal is on a mission to reduce road fatalities in Ahmedabad.
“Till each one of us follows rules, we will not be able to achieve the ‘zero accident’ goal,” said Agarwal, who distributes helmets and frames to prevent manja injuries. “I visit schools to interact with students who are future road users and instil a sense of responsibility in them towards their selves and others,” he said.
A member of the Ahmedabad Traffic Consultative Committee, Agarwal said that he is contributing as much to the cause of road safety as possible so that no other parent has to mourn the loss of their beloved children.
The city police had recorded 308 fatal accidents in 2018. The figure has remained above 250 for the past few years — meaning four fatal accidents per week.