The One Lap Of India One Lap For Safety is flagged off!
Yesterday, an event was flagged off which, if everything goes well, will get into the 2004 edition of the Limca Book of Records. It's called the One Lap Of India One Lap For Safety, a record-breaking drive which will cover all the 29 states of India in 29 days. Taking part in the run are 17 motoring journalists from around the country, who will take a specially-prepared Mahindra Scorpio over almost 15,000 km of varied terrain.
The One Lap Of India One Lap For Safety, conceptualised by Business Standard Motoring, was flagged off from Mahindra Towers in Mumbai by Alan Durante, executive director and president, Mahindra & Mahindra.
The first team taking the Scorpio all the way to Jammu is Business Standard Motoring, staffed by Sameer Kumar, Shubhabrata Marmar and Parameswaran. In fact, Sameer celebrated his birthday by being the first driver of this historic lap!
The team will make their way via Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Jalandhar, covering Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir.
If the drive is completed within 29 days, it will earn its place in the Limca Book of Records as the longest, fastest relay rally raid ever organised in India. But the event was not organised for breaking or setting records. The entire emphasis is on creating awareness of road safety and safe driving techniques.
Our country has the dubious reputation of having the maximum number off accidents in proportion to the number of vehicles on the road. Every year, on an average, 75,000 people lose their lives in road accidents, and over 3,25,000 are injured. Participants in The One Lap Of India One Lap Of Safety will address the local media at various stop-over points and will also be distributing leaflets on safe driving tips all along the route.
The event is being run on a relay drive format, where one team will hand over the vehicle to the other at a pre-designated point. The One Lap Of India One Lap For Safety has been divided into six legs, and each leg will have its own team driving. The first leg is from Mumbai to Jammu (2,010 km), followed by Jammu to Lucknow (2,880 km). The third stage is from Lucknow to Guwahati (2,600 km). From Guwahati, the team will cover all the North-eastern states and land up at Kolkata, covering a distance of 3,150 km. The fifth leg starts from Kolkata and ends at Chennai (1,700 km), and the final leg will be from Chennai to Mumbai (2,590 km).
Participants in the event include Autocar India, Auto India, Auto Motor and Sport, Bike2Car, Overdrive and of course, Business Standard Motoring. Others taking part are freelance motoring writer Murad Ali Baig, six-time national rally champion Hari Singh and the men's magazine Man's World.
Now that it's been flagged off, we will keep you updated on the progress of the participants and the Scorpio on this very page every week.
