Children experience the Safety Cab at Volvo Museum
Launch training kit to give children a chance to learn the facts about road safety
“Cars are driven by people. The basic principle behind everything we do at Volvo is, and must always be, safety.” These were the words of Volvo’s two founders, Gustaf Larson and Assar Gabrielsson, at the company’s foundation in 1927.
Since then, safety has been one of Volvo’s core values, which is reflected in the innovations and safe transport solutions developed over the years. A key component of the safety work has always been to inform people of the dangers in traffic, since most accidents are due to the human factor.
Every year, more than 260,000 children under the age of 19 die in traffic accidents. To help reduce this figure, Volvo has focused specific efforts for several years on training children in road safety by organising information tours for local schools.
“With respect to traffic safety, Volvo has a very important role to play and we have accumulated extensive knowledge over the years. With our safety campaigns for children, we have succeeded in packaging the information in a manner that arouses their interest and feels relevant to them. Sometimes, a few good tips are sufficient to save lives,” says Peter Kronberg, Safety Director for the manufacturer.
The Volvo Group is committed to accelerate progress in road safety for all road users by working on all aspects of the problem, since the majority of road accidents can to some degree be attributed to human behaviour.
As a result, they have launched a global safety campaign called ‘Stop, Look, Wave’ to help raise children’s awareness of how to behave safely in traffic. The idea is to let children experience what drivers can see from where they sit, and help them understand how best to behave around trucks, buses and cars to stay safe.
There are two specially-developed training kits – one basic version and another more in-depth kit for use by educators, youth group leaders, police officers, and other people who work with children.
The packs are free to download at www.volvogroup.com/stoplookwave
“Last month, the UN Global Safety Week had children and road safety as the theme for the year. Volvo Group wants to encourage everyone who has the opportunity to support the UN in its campaign, not only during Safety Week itself, but also by placing greater focus on the role of children in traffic every day, all year round,” continued Mr Kronberg.
