The Suzuki Grand Vitara is gearing up for a brand-new challenge: conquering road safety awareness.
Suzuki Auto South Africa has partnered with FleetMax Africa to develop a road-safety curriculum called DriveSMART with Suzuki, in a campaign that it will broadcast across social media channels.
“Every year, more than 14,000 people die on South Africa’s roads and many thousands more are badly hurt or maimed in vehicle accidents,” says Ashref Ismail, CEO of FleetMax Africa. “If you look closely at these statistics, young people are disproportionately affected by vehicle accidents. We want to change that.”
Added to the tragic loss of life and its effect on the South African youth, these accidents come at a cost to the economy of more than R150-billion per annum.
FleetMax Africa, a South African transport consultancy whose emphasis lies on driving and road safety training, employs a large group of highly qualified individuals from the transport, traffic, road safety and enforcement backgrounds. They are led by Ismail, who has more than 20 years’ experience in road safety education, traffic management and traffic law enforcement.
This is not Suzuki’s first foray into the world of road safety. It is also partnering with Wheel Well, an organisation that campaigns for children in road safety. It will support Wheel Well’s Halo Beanie project that aims to reduce child pedestrian fatalities and injuries caused by road traffic accidents. It will provide reflective gear for children in the form of beanies, especially in rural areas.
In the partnership with FleetMax, Suzuki will provide two Grand Vitara GLX models for use in a series of training programmes across South Africa. The filming of road safety videos will cover more than 120 road safety topics, including defensive driving and vehicle maintenance.
“These videos will have a long shelf life and can be shared freely across our social channels and those of our partners, as well as other companies that share our concern with vehicle safety,” says Brendon Carpenter, brand marketing manager of Suzuki Auto South Africa. “Together we can help turn the tide and make owning and driving a car the exciting key to freedom that it should be for young people.”