Walk Raises Funds, Awareness for Distraction Free Driving.

A walk highlighting the dangers of distracted driving Saturday netted nearly $2,000 but organizers are even more pleased with the increasing awareness it’s brought to the issue.

The 3rd Raksha Walk Connecticut was held at Simsbury Farms in honor of Shreya Rekha Dixit, who in November of 2007 was killed in a crash caused when the driver of the other vehicle reached down to find a napkin.

Held in Canton the first year, it then moved to Simsbury and has grown steadily. 

"I'm very pleased with the result," said Zarin Kapur, Director, Connecticut Chapter of the Shreya R. Dixit Memorial Foundation, which hosted the walk. She said the rain kept some away but "still it's a very good turnout."  

She is especially glad so many youth have been involved as many of Shreya's friends and their acquaintances volunteer and participate. 

The walk is named after Raksha Bandhan, a festival in India that involves a sister praying for her brother’s safety as she ties a band on her wrist.

The walks include a variation of the tradition as participants tie bracelets on each other and pledge to pay attention behind the wheel.

Friends and family offered a few words before the participants walked the perimeter of Simsbury Farms.

There are many potential distractions but her father Vijay urged participants to concentrate when driving.

“The car is not a multi-tasking environment,” he told 150 walkers gathered for the event Saturday. “Don’t bring your office, school or living room into a car.”

Kristen Bauer, a West Hartford native who roomed with Shreya during her freshman year at Bryant University agreed it is a poignant issue.

“I think it’s important now more than ever,” she said. “It’s really sad the number we have lost.”

To help spread the word walks are held in Connecticut and Minnesota, where the family moved a few years before Shreya’s death. 

It’s grown each year as has the effort, which this year included a slogan contest on facebook.

The awareness is most important, said Sandip Kapur, a close family friend and advisory board member for the Shreya R. Dixit Memorial Foundation.

Kapur said the foundation grew from conversations with the family and the decision to take action to combat the problem and honor Shreya’s legacy of community service.

“That’s how this thing was born,” he said.

The 5th Raksha Walk Minnesota will take place Aug. 4.

Find out more about the foundation and ways to help at http://shreyadixit.org/ or http://www.facebook.com/shreyamemorial