Nearly 2 million helmets to be presented to first graders in Vietnam

Over 1.93 million standard helmets will be presented to first grade students in the 2019-2020 academic year as announced at a ceremony held in Hanoi on June 12. With the theme “Keep full dreams together”, the program looks to raise the ratio of helmet wearing among children to 80 percent by 2020.

Nearly 2 million helmets to be presented to first Vietnamese graders.

In the 2018-2019 school year, Honda Vietnam delivered nearly 2 million standard helmets to first graders nationwide, contributing to increasing helmet wearing among 6-year-old children in Vietnam.

At the ceremony, the three sides signed a deal on coordination in implementing effectively the helmet presenting programme, especially activities to spread traffic safety information to students’ parents.

Addressing the event, Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh hailed the three sides for launching a significant progamme and at the same time asked them to seriously assess the ratio of helmet wearing among children as it is still low.

He said a survey in 10 provinces showed around 60 percent of first grade students wear helmets when they are driven to school while helmets were delivered to all of them by late 2018. He blamed many parents for not wearing helmets for their children when taking them on their bikes.

General Director of Honda Vietnam Keisuke Tsuruzono said his company will continue accompanying the Vietnamese Government in ensuring traffic safety for children and people in general.

The helmet law is estimated to have created a substantial uptick in the number of riders who wear helmets in urban areas, from 30 percent in 2007 to 90 percent today. However, the rate of children wearing helmets still remain low.

Teachers and families have been called to provide children with protection skills, including wearing helmets when riding motorbikes.

The data from the National Traffic Safety Committee shows that 80 percent of road traffic accident deaths are related to motorbikes. Wearing a helmet helps to reduce head injury risk by 60 percent and mortality risk by 40 percent. In 2018, 1,442 children fell victims to traffic accidents, a drop of 17 percent from 2017.