Most road safety campaigns in India tell drivers what they are doing wrong. SaveLIFE Foundation’s latest behaviour change campaign, Nuksaan Ka Sauda, starts somewhere else, with why they are doing it.
The seven-film digital series, an initiative of SaveLIFE Foundation with creative development by McCann Worldgroup, explores a unique Indian reality – that a large number of road crashes don’t happen because of recklessness or indifference. They happen because of pure economics. In an attempt to save every penny, the average Indian compromises every step of the way – from cheap helmets to overloaded vehicles - not realizing it can get fatal. The idea has truly resonated with the viewers and the campaign has accumulated over 7 million views on YouTube and 5 million across Instagram and Facebook. Each film takes you through the protagonist’s state of mind and mentality, and before you realize, showcases the danger therein. Underlying how betting on life is a bad bet – a Nuksaan ka Sauda.
Speaking on the initiative, Piyush Tewari, SaveLIFE Foundation said, “Far too often we label unsafe drivers as simply ‘negligent’. But lasting behaviour change begins by understanding why people make these choices in the first place. Cultural empathy is essential to all of our work at SaveLIFE. Many road users believe they are saving a few minutes, a little fuel, or a few hundred rupees by driving on the wrong side or buying a cheap helmet. This campaign challenges that mindset without judging the person holding it. It shows that what looks like a smart bargain is, in reality, a Nuksaan Ka Sauda, because no amount of money saved can justify a life. Behaviour change is one pillar of a Safe System; it works only when it is built on respect for the road user, not blame.”
For McCann Worldgroup, the campaign has been developed and led by Executive Creative Directors Utsav Khare and Gourav Verma. Speaking on the same, they jointly said, “Perhaps the least talked about aspect of road safety in India is this tendency to be miserly. Whether it is ignoring your vehicle’s upkeep, avoiding a good helmet, or driving downhill in neutral to save fuel, we end up inadvertently prioritising money over life. Once Piyush shared this insight with us, our job was to make it as impactful and as non-preachy as possible. When you work with someone as immersed in his line of work as Piyush, you know what you say will strike a chord. You just have to say it nicely.”
The campaign sits alongside SaveLIFE Foundation’s engineering, enforcement and emergency care work under the Zero Fatality Corridor and Zero Fatality District Programmes — reflecting the organisation’s Safe System position that no single intervention, behavioural or otherwise, can deliver zero fatalities on its own.
