Every year, approximately 1.3 million people are killed and 50 million injured in road accidents. For people aged 5-29 years, there is no greater threat to their lives. And on the roads, 1 in 4 deaths occur among pedestrians and cyclists.
In an attempt to change this for the better, the World Health Organization (WHO) arranges the annual UN Global Road Safety Week – inviting individuals and organizations to contribute towards the UN’s target to reduce road traffic deaths and injuries by 50% before 2030.
Volvo Trucks´ contribution is a training program for children, called STOP LOOK WAVE, teaching them how to be safer in traffic. The program includes a brand new song and a music video that encourages children all over the world to cross roads in a safe way.
“For us at Volvo, safety is in our DNA; we do not only focus on the safety features in our vehicles, but also on boosting safe behavior in traffic to reduce the risk for accidents”, says Anna Wrige Berling, Traffic and Product Safety Director at Volvo Trucks.
Dance moves to help spread the message
Children from all around the world are featured in the video, showing how to do a set of simple, easy-to-perform dance moves that are intended to make the message more engaging and appealing to young people, and help to spread the message.
The music video and the training material launched during the UN road safety week, is an updated version of a program launched previously in 2015. Since then, children in more than 30 countries have been reached by the program.
“With the new music video, we hope that we can reach even more children in even more countries. Schools and organizations of all kinds can run our safety program to encourage safe behavior to protect our children and save lives”, says Anna Wrige Berling.
WATCH THE STOP LOOK WAVE VIDEO HERE
LINK to high-resolution images
FACT FILE NEW MUSIC VIDEO
The new song and music video for Stop Look Wave is part of a training material designed for children aged between 8 and 12. It encourages them to stop first before stepping out when crossing the road. Then, they should look in both directions to see if there are any drivers approaching and make eye contact with them. They should then wave to the driver and if the driver waves back, they know that the driver has seen them and it’s safe to cross.
