Caped crusaders ask public to wear helmets

So next time, if a Batman or Spiderman is spotted on the roads with a poster giving someone a stern lecture on not wearing a helmet, they should know it’s ‘Thozhan’ behind the initiative.

Thozhan is an NGO which started in 2007 with various goals. The team has become popular for their efforts to curb traffic congestion and sensitise the public on the same. 

Their ‘Accident-free nation’ campaign has massive volunteer base and they visit six different parts of the city every week on Thursday to educate commuters, adding a lighter touch to the seminars with their antics. 

“We do various activities like adopting homes with underprivileged people, organ donation, tree plantations, promoting the mother tongue, and so on. But our Traffic Awareness Campaigns (TACs) have really pushed us into the limelight and garnered us a lot of volunteers comprising of college students and young professionals. 

From Yama Dharma and Chitraguptan to Batman and Superman, we have had our members don these costumes and address road safety issues at signals and heavily-congested areas. 

We conduct the campaign on the last Sunday of every month, across the state,” said M Radhakrishnan, organiser of the campaign. From drunken driving to speeding, they address every issue through their programme, that involves even theatre (therukoothu) at times. 

“In fact, we cycled from Kanniyakumari to Chennai recently for seven days continuously as part of this plan. So far, we have reached over 50,000 students across Tamil Nadu, which is what we are most proud of. Many of them volunteer for us today.” Radhakrishnan added. Next up, they want to shed more light on the Good Samaritan Act of 2016, and encourage more people to follow the same. 

“It means you can provide assistance to anyone injured in public and help them to the best of your ability. Often, we notice a big crowd of onlookers standing aimlessly around an accident, afraid to help because of getting involved with the police or being asked to pay money at the hospital. Also, they are worried that the accident victim may die enroute to the hospital and that they might be held accountable. We want to educate them on this and make sure that they are protected,” Radhakrishnan explained. 

Thozhan will hold an awareness campaign to spread the word on these topics across 72 parks in the city, simultaneously, on the first week of August.