USU PR - The Universitas Sumatera Utara (USU), together with PT Chevron Oil Products Indonesia, successfully held a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program entitled “Road Safety Awareness” at the Haji Anif USU Joint Lecture Building, Tuesday (10/09/2024). This safe driving training program is a tangible manifestation of the two institutions' concern for public safety.

This program is part of the real efforts of USU and PT Chevron to educate the public about the importance of safe driving. In her remarks, USU Vice Chancellor III, Prof. Dr. Poppy Anjelisa Zaitun Hasibuan, S.Si., M.Si., Apt. Represented by the USU Directorate of Internationalization and Global Partnership Director, Prof. Dr. Eng. Himsar Ambarita, S.T., M.T., emphasized the importance of this program, given the high number of traffic accidents in Indonesia.

In the midst of increasing mobility in this modern era, the risk of traffic accidents is also getting higher. Data from various institutions show that traffic accidents are still one of the leading causes of death in the world, including in Indonesia. In 2023, there were 116,000 cases of traffic accidents in Indonesia, an increase of 6.8% compared to the previous year (Indonesia.go.id data). Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) recorded 139,258 accident cases with 28,131 fatalities in 2022.

In his interview, Prof. Dr. Eng. Himsar Ambarita explained that this program is part of the partnership between USU and PT Chevron. In addition, USU also contributes to society by involving students as ambassadors of driving safety.

“Higher mobility brings greater risks. We must be agents of change in raising awareness of road safety,” said Prof. Himsar.

On the same occasion, the Director of USU's Directorate of Achievement and Alumni Relations, Rahma Yurliani, S.Psi, M.Psi, hoped that this program would improve participants' competence through hands-on practice. She also added that the skills acquired not only include driving techniques but also emotional control while driving. The program also opens up opportunities for USU students to pursue future internships.

“This training provides an opportunity for students to learn to control emotions when driving, in addition to safe driving techniques,” said Rahma.

Meanwhile, the President Director of PT Chevron Oil Products, Budiman ST, revealed that the main objective of this program is to increase public awareness about the importance of safe driving. He hopes that in the future, USU students who participate in this program can become examples for the community in implementing safe driving. This program involves USU students who will become traffic safety ambassadors. They will go directly to the community to provide education about safe driving. In addition, the program also opens opportunities for students to join the internship program at PT Chevron.

“We hope students can be an example for the community in implementing safe driving,” said Budiman.