Volvo Buses

Global

Stop, Look, Wave!

In Volvo Group’s campaign for traffic safety, children all over the world are taught how to behave around trucks, buses and cars.

More than 1.2 million people die in traffic accidents every year. And if nothing is done, the World Health Organization estimates that the number of road traffic fatalities will almost double by 2030.

“Since safety is important to Volvo we could not stand still. With this campaign we want to make sure that people, and especially children, know how to behave in traffic,” says Beatrice Cardon, Director of Media Relations and Corporate Reputation at Volvo Group.

The “Stop, Look, Wave” campaign was launched by Volvo Group in 2015 and focuses on buses and trucks. “Children think that they are seen even when they are not. They sometimes see the big vehicle’s lights as eyes and believe that they have made eye contact,” says Beatrice Cardon.

The campaign has so far been a great success. School classes all over the world have received training. Volvo Group encourages its employees all over the world to act as safety ambassadors and spread the campaign to children in their neighbourhoods.

A training kit has been created that can be used for training sessions. “The children love it when they get to climb into a big bus or truck! And it really takes them by surprise when they see for themselves that they aren’t as visible as they think.”

To make sure that drivers wave back to the children, the International Road Transport Union supports the campaign by informing drivers around the world.

The goal of the campaign is, of course, to save as many children as possible. “500 young children are dying every day due to traffic accidents. That is absolutely unacceptable! If we were developing traffic from scratch today we would not accept such figures. But since traffic has been around for so long we seem to have gotten used to it,” Beatrice Cardon says.

How long will the campaign go on?
“Forever, I hope. There will always be new children and there will always be risks on the roads. We work hard to find solutions to these risks, but as long as all of us share the same roads there will be a need for education.”

 

Read more about the Stop, Look, Wave campaign here: Global News Volvo Group

 

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