GM China partners Safe Kids Worldwide to drive vehicle safety awareness

General Motors China has launched the 2016 Safe Kids Safe Ride program in Shanghai in cooperation with Safe Kids Worldwide.

Now in its third year, the program aims to reduce vehicle-related child injuries and raise public awareness of the need to protect children inside and around vehicles.

The theme for 2016 is Love & Smile. Parents are encouraged to put a smile on the face of their children by ensuring they sit in child safety seats when riding in a vehicle.

GM China says it is supporting community outreach programs at venues such as shopping centres, kindergartens and residential areas to teach children and their parents about vehicle safety. In addition, activities will be held at 30 kindergartens across China to train teachers to educate their students.

For the first time, GM China is teaming up with the Shanghai Traffic Police Corps to produce a video reminding people to always look before opening their car doors. China’s increasingly crowded streets have made getting out of vehicles a concern for traffic authorities.

“Ensuring the protection of road and vehicle users is a priority for General Motors,” said GM executive vice- president and GM China President Matt Tsien. “By working together, we can educate the passengers of today and the drivers of tomorrow to develop good vehicle safety habits.”

During the kickoff event on June 18 at the Cloud Nine Shopping Center in Shanghai, GM China and its employee volunteers demonstrated the proper installation of child safety seats. They also led a series of fun interactive activities to reinforce safety messages for people of all ages.

Monica Cui, executive director of Safe Kids China, said: “Traffic-related issues are the major cause of injuries among children in China. Nearly 20,000 children are injured annually. Proper road safety behaviours such as using car seats, not leaving children alone in vehicles and paying close attention to children around vehicles require the strenuous effort of parents.”

Last year, GM China employees volunteered more than 2,300 hours of their time for the program, which visited 30 schools. Teachers from 10 cities also used materials provided by the Safe Kids Safe Ride program, reaching out to over 50,000 children and their parents.    

The Safe Kids Safe Ride program is endorsed by the Shanghai Public Security Bureau’s Traffic Police Corps, the Shanghai Municipal Center of Disease Control & Prevention, the Administrative Office of the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission’s Juvenile Protection Committee and Safe Kids Worldwide. It is an extension of a 19-year partnership between GM, the GM Foundation and Safe Kids Worldwide.

Safe Kids Worldwide is a global nonprofit organisation dedicated to protecting kids from preventable injuries, the number one killer of kids in the United States. Throughout the world, almost one million children die of an injury each year, and almost every one of these tragedies is preventable. Safe Kids works with an extensive network of 400 coalitions in the United States and with partners in 25 countries to reduce traffic injuries, drownings, falls, burns, poisonings and more.