SAFER ROADS FOR ALL
#SR4A – SAFER ROADS 4 ALL
Hi All fellow Car Junkies
and petrol heads!
I am sure many of us are saddened by what happens
in our communities on a daily basis and the struggles that people are facing.
My heart goes out to the younger generation. If I had the means to help build
better communities, I definitely would. I feel that we all need to start
somewhere, even if it means feeding the less fortunate communities with soup or
engaging in educational activities and creating awareness of issues that most
people are not aware of.
I was fortunate enough to
be able to join SR4A at their charity event held at Killarney International
Raceway on Tuesday, 04 July 2017. SR4A is a campaign about awareness on Road
Safety not just to drivers but to passengers as well. A lot of drivers are
becoming younger and they are going faster. As an NPC/NPO, Safer Roads for All
want to make the youth aware of the dangers that are on the streets. Not only
to drivers but also to by-standers and people who are sometimes caught up in
accidents that they do not expect. Lots of the youth who have access to racing
and are involved in street racing, should be made aware of the lives that are
around them, and SR4A is a really great campaign established by Deon and Malika
Daniels in bringing that message across.
SR4A Had invited kids from
local communities, namely, Ocean View and Mitchell's Plain to experience what
it is like to be in a car that is going sideways. Yes, it's great fun….ON A
TRACK. The amount of lives taken from illegal street racing has been terrifying
and it is not always the culprits who pass on but innocent by-standers whose
lives are taken away. If we as community members can make our youth aware of
this, we can prevent many accidents or incidents from happening in the future.
I was so inspired and
motivated by the generosity of this team and found myself wanting to help in
any way possible. If we can all stand together and help make our communities
better and safer, by any means, I am sure our future generations would benefit
from it. It's like investing in to the lives of your children and grandchildren
and so on. I wrote this post in hopes that many people's heart's would be
softened and eyes be opened to where we as members of communities need to
invest in.
I had the privilege of
having a brief chat to Mr. Daniels, (DJ Ready D) and asked him a few random
questions:
When did you develop your
passion for cars?
“My passion for cars comes
since when I was a little kid hey, my dad owned Valliant’s, my brother owned a Barracuda,
he owned these sporty little Fiats, these 60s/70s models sports looking cars.
That’s kind of where it was for me, and being exposed to movies where there was
always some sort of racing or stunt driving in. Growing up as a kid I always
wanted to be in stunting, I always wanted to be a stuntman in some form or fashion.”
If you had a racing dream,
what would be your ultimate driving experience dream?
“For me personally, I
would want to travel the world, doesn’t matter where really. And if ever I get
a chance to come back and there is a second life for me, I would love to
compete in the X Games doing the Motor x, that type of stuff.”
Do you only drift? Do you
do circuit racing or drag racing as well?
“I had the opportunity to
do circuit racing, I raced in clubman’s. Coming in to motor sport in the
beginning stages, I used to be extremely intimidated by a track because of the
historical and economic factors in our country. We weren’t really exposed to this;
it was a small amount of people of color, black or colored, that actually made
it on to tracks. But when they came in to the motor sport arena, even they were
met with many, prejudices as well. So we come in here, knowing only of street
racing and racing in a straight line. Drifting was very very intimidating.”
Do you you have a favorite
car? What car?
“The whole range of
Skylines, from the first GTR right through to the ‘35’. The Nissan S13, S14,
S15, I’m a big fan of the S Chassis. And higher up Mercedes Benz, anything in
the AMG range. And as for super cars, Zonda’s and Lambos.
Which car is your everyday
car?
My everyday car is my
Nissan S14.
Since you are a DJ, is
your music more important than your drifting?
I would say on the one
end, yes, my music is more important because it pays the bills. At the moment
when it comes to racing and drifting, it’s a passion but it cost us money and
we are running this campaign on a Non-Profit basis. Safer Roads for All, interacts
with youth, so this is strictly on a charity basis. There are no sponsors for
this campaign.”
How do you feel about
Malika drifting?
“Well she scares me; I
think I’m driving Miss Daisy but no. When she’s driving I’m pressing brakes and
holding on to the dash. But she’s got a much higher tolerance; overall I’m very
proud of her. She is the official female ambassador for the SR4A programme as
well and having females on board means a lot, we have 2 other ladies that are
in our drifting team. She plays a critical part apart from being a driver, she
provides that level of encouragement and interaction because as guys sometimes
we won’t be able to get the message across but having a female just makes other
ladies feel more comfortable and hopefully that will inspire them. In terms of
where she is as a driver, knowing that she doesn’t spend a lot of time behind
the wheel, she is phenomenal. If she spends as much time as we do on the track,
she will go past us.”
In 2 years’ time, where do
you see yourself?
“In 2 years’ time I still
see myself doing what we are doing but on a much, much, bigger scale. We are a
registered NGO, NPO or NPC, Non-Profit Company. So we are actually in the
process of practically doing fundraising and building the platform and the programme
with different members of the community and organizations. We want this thing
to have a much bigger sort of life and visibility and reach out to the
communities. We do have a business plan in place as well in terms of how we
want to do that and how we are going to create that reach. For us this is a
carrot to keep the youth interested as well and we just want to build on them.
Personally, I feel that
this is a great initiative. Investing into the future generation is 1 step
closer to better and safer communities. If you wish to find out more about SR4A
or get involved, follow sr4a_saving_lives on Instagram.
Also check out:
To my fellow petrol heads,
please keep a look out for future Car Junkie events and posts!
Becky
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