ZF launches child road safety campaign in India

Global technology major ZF, which is a leader in driveline and chassis technology as well as active and passive safety technology, has launched a child road safety campaign in India. 

The campaign uses a ‘Safety Bunny’ to educate children between 5-10 years about the basics of road safety. The initiative, which aims to reach out to as many schools as possible, will initially address more than 10,000 students across Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad and Coimbatore. While the campaign has already been introduced as a pilot in two schools in Pune, it will be activated at schools in the other three cities from September. ZF aims to complete the child safety awareness campaign by December this year.   

The mascots of the Safety Bunny campaign.

In quest of Vision Zero
ZF has an overarching safety goal of ‘Vision Zero’ – a world with zero accidents and zero emissions. The company believes increased connectivity between vehicles and their environment will be able to protect almost all road users. The company’s safety technologies are helping to prevent accidents or at least lower their severity. With high-performance sensors and cameras, it is driving towards a world without road accidents. And it is starting where it matters most – at the grassroots level – children, who are the safety ambassadors of tomorrow. 

According to Suresh KV, president for ZF in India, “In India, there are more than 150,000 fatalities per year, accounting for 11 percent of all road deaths worldwide. Around 43 children die in road accidents in India every day, and an alarming 75 percent of passenger vehicle users (driver, co-driver and rear) in India do not wear seatbelts leading to an additional 15 deaths every day. As a leader in safety technology, road safety is our priority and we see a responsibility to educate society on how to be safe road users. This is the goal of our ‘Safety Bunny’ campaign – to educate drivers of tomorrow and help them to understand the principles of road safety from a young age. The bunny is the campaign’s ambassador – making learning fun and interesting as it focuses on the needs of being vigilant and cautious on the roads.”

Teaching them young, teaching them right
With the campaign, ZF employees will conduct educational  sessions highlighting key aspects of road safety such as the importance of wearing seatbelts, how to cross the road safely, correct in-vehicle behaviour and the importance of following traffic rules .

All these learnings will be delivered through quizzes, fun games and roleplay. The story book, script and all training material has been developed in-house and is being shared with the volunteers. ZF’s joint venture partners in India – Rane TRW Steering Systems, TRW Sun Steering and Brakes India – are partnering the company for this safety campaign, apart from other 100 percent subsidiary locations.

ZF is a global leader in driveline and chassis technology as well as active and passive safety technology. The company has a global workforce of 146,000 with approximately 230 locations in some 40 countries. In 2017, ZF achieved sales of €36.4 billion and as such, is one of the largest automotive suppliers worldwide.

ZF, which enables vehicles to see, think and act, invests more than six percent of its sales in R&D annually – in particular for the development of efficient and electric drivelines and also in striving for a world without accidents.  It has been present in the Indian market for more than five decades.

Main visual courtesy. www.roadsafetyforchildren.co.uk