“You don’t change the world by shouting at it. You change it by redesigning it.”
He wasn’t a doctor. He wasn’t a bureaucrat.
He didn’t even work in road safety.
But when Piyush Tewari’s 16-year-old cousin died in a hit-and-run — not from the injury, but from the apathy of bystanders and the absence of emergency aid — something inside him changed forever.
That day, a new kind of warrior was born.
One who didn’t wear a cape or carry a placard — but carried designs, data, and determination.
The Foundation of Life: SaveLIFE
In 2008, Tewari left a lucrative job in private equity to start the SaveLIFE Foundation — an organization that would take on India’s most neglected epidemic: road accidents.
India accounts for 11% of global road crash deaths, with over 1.5 lakh people dying annually. Most of these deaths are not due to impact, but delayed response, fear of legal entanglements, and broken road design.
Tewari’s answer wasn’t just moral outrage. It was systemic innovation.
The Good Samaritan Law: A Silent Revolution
One of Tewari’s most groundbreaking victories came in 2016, when after years of legal advocacy, the Supreme Court of India passed the Good Samaritan Law — protecting bystanders who help accident victims from harassment by police or hospitals.
For a country where people watched victims bleed to death out of fear, this law was nothing short of cultural surgery.
Suddenly, saving a life became a civic duty — not a legal risk.
Engineering Safer Roads
But Tewari didn’t stop at laws.
He brought data, design, and public-private collaboration to make roads themselves safer:
- Partnered with Delhi Police, NHAI, and corporates to re-engineer deadly roads
- Created crash-mapping technology to identify black spots
- Reduced fatalities by up to 50% in some high-risk zones
- Rolled out emergency response training for police, drivers, and volunteers
His team believes that every road death is preventable — and they back it with code, training, and unrelenting follow-up.
Recognitions
- Echoing Green Fellow
- Ashoka Fellow
- NDTV Indian of the Year – Public Service
- Featured in Forbes, TED, BBC, and The Guardian
- Consulted by multiple countries on replicating India’s Good Samaritan framework
Yet for Tewari, the true reward is not the award — it’s the call from a stranger who says:
“My brother is alive today because someone helped… and didn’t run away.”
His Words
“We make it easy to die on Indian roads. That’s what we’re changing.”
“The system isn’t broken. It was never designed for safety. We’re redesigning it.”
“Policy doesn’t save lives. People do — but only when they’re empowered to act.”
Why He’s a Human of Change
- Because he turned a personal tragedy into a national movement
- Because he didn’t just tell people to act — he changed the laws so they could
- Because he proved that real change is often invisible — until it saves you
Piyush Tewari
Episode 11 | Humans of Change
One World. One Change. One Human.
