Shell India and VisionSpring win global award for #DriveSafeIndia campaign

New Delhi – Shell India and VisionSpring today announced that #DriveSafeIndia, a programme to provide screening and eyeglasses to more than 350 thousand Commercial Drivers and Allied Transportation Workers Across India, has been awarded the Prince Michael International Road Safety Award. The award recognises outstanding achievement and innovation world-wide towards improving road safety. The program has already screened the vision of 97,000 people in 40 cities and towns across India.

Nitin Prasad, Chairman, Shell Companies in India, said, “We are honoured and humbled to receive this prestigious award that recognizes the significant progress we have made, and the focus we put on safety each and every day throughout our operations. Almost 75% of road fatalities in India are attributed to driver error. The #DriveSafeIndia program is a step forward in the right direction to create safer drivers across the country. The award does not belong to us alone, it belongs to every single one of the driver and transportation worker who walked into that camp and said ‘yes’ to safety and saving lives. We will continue building on the positive feedback and expand our road safety initiatives to benefit more road users.”

The Prince Michael International Road Safety Awards have recognised outstanding achievement and innovation in the UK and across the world since 1987.

Congratulating the winners, HRH Prince Michael of Kent said: ‘You have been judged by your peers to be amongst a unique group who are committed to improving the safety of those who travel on the world’s roads.’

In the program assessment conducted amongst 385 drivers, 83% drivers in glasses reported ‘no difficulty’ in being able to identify moving objects such as people and animals in low light conditions, an 144% increase from just 34% drivers prior to screening. Further, 85% drivers shared that after getting glasses they had “no difficulty” in judging speed and distance of vehicles coming from the opposite direction, up from only 37% of drivers without glasses which signifies a 130% increase.

“We are truly honoured to receive this award” said Ella Gudwin, VisionSpring CEO. “Sometimes solutions to complicated problems like road safety are sitting, quite literally, right in front of our eyes. In this case, vision screening and eyeglasses are a simple, scalable solution that enables drivers to see hazards on the road. More importantly, we are reaching people who have never had a vision test before. In fact, 67% of participants are acquiring their very first pair of glasses through the program. Now, they can see well to stay safe.”

After getting glasses for the first time in their lives, 76% of the drivers surveyed in the study articulated that driving safely and optimal job performance would be the most important results of their new clear vision. The assessment underscores the need for proactive interventions that effectively increase eyeglasses utilization among drivers in need of vision correction.

Enquiries:

Shell India
Priyanka Dube
Priyanka.dube@shell.com
+91 9910385564

VisisonSpring Shobha Ramani
Shobha.Ramani@VisionSpring.org
+91 9990318556

Edelman India
Shivani Talwar
shivani.talwar@edelman.com
+91 9871521310

Notes to Editors

About Shell in India:

Shell is one of the most diversified international energy company in India with over 8500 employees and presence across upstream, integrated gas, downstream, renewable energy, and deep capabilities in R&D, digitalization and business operations. With a retail presence across six states – Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Assam Shell is expanding its network of fuel stations across the country. It has the entire Lubricants end-to-end value chain in India, from conceptualization and development, to production and distribution. This includes a world class lubricant oil blending plant with a capacity of more than 115 million litres, a distributor network of more than 185 and over 60,000 retailers across the country. The company also fully owns and operates an LNG re-gasification terminal at Hazira. Through its subsidiary, BG Exploration and Production India Limited, Shell holds a 30% interest in, and is joint operator of the Panna - Mukta oil and gas fields. With a focus on digitization and future ready sustainable solutions, the company is nurturing a vibrant ecosystem in India to accelerate energy innovations with Shell E4 for startups, Shell Eco-marathon and investments in new energy companies like Husk Power and Cleantech Solar. Shell also remains committed to making positive contributions to the communities in which it operates through programmes like NXplorers, Access to Energy and Road Safety across India. Follow @shell_India @makethefuture @shell_ecomar to know how it is redefining the energy space.

About VisionSpring:

VisionSpring is the pioneering, international social enterprise accelerating the uptake of affordable eyewear among people who earn less than $4 per day in emerging and frontier markets. Founded in 2001, VisionSpring uncovers latent demand for vision correction; conducts community, workplace and school vision screenings; trains others to do the same; and supplies radically affordable, durable eyeglasses. VisionSpring has delivered more than 5.5 million pairs of eyeglasses, providing vision correction in 43 countries with over 385 NGO, corporate, government and health partners. VisionSpring has been recognized for its innovative work, receiving multiple awards including the Skoll Award; social entrepreneur fellowships from Draper Richards Kaplan, the Aspen Institute, and the Schwab Foundation; and honors from World Bank, Duke University, Fast Company, and Tribeca Film Festival, among others. For more information, see visionspring.org

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