Give a Vietnamese child a helmet; save a life

In April 2023, AIP Foundation joined hands with the National Traffic Safety Committee, the Ministry of Education and Training, the Gia Lai Traffic Safety Committee and the Pleiku’s People Committee to host a Community Bike Day 2023, in Pleiku, Vietnam. As part of the event, students received 50 bicycles and 50 helmets to promote green mobility across Pleiku City. This Community Bike Day brings together over 1000 community members to speak up on safe mobility and take action for greener streets across their city.

In December 2022, AIP Foundation launched the ‘Bike to School’ campaign through our Slow Zones, Safe Zones project to provide 85 new bicycles for low-income students to be able to bike to and from school. In its 5th year, the program increasingly encourages students and their families to use sustainable means of transport – paving the way for healthier and greener cities and promoting safe and sustainable mobility. Through this project, our activities represent the start of effective mind shifts and long-term changes for sustainable social impact not only across the schools but the wider community. 

“It is very exciting to see the development of the Slow Zones, Safe Zones program in Pleiku leading to the empowerment of youth across the city. Youth are the future and our most important priority is to protect them. Today marks an important milestone in pushing toward safer and more sustainable mobility modes in central Vietnam,” shares Kim, Senior Officer, Road Safety Projects at the Global Road Safety Partnership.

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To prevent further senseless risks that primary school students face, Prudential Vietnam is supporting the SAFE STEPS KIDS Road Safety Day as part of the SAFE STEPS KIDS – Road Safety (SSK-RS) program. Yen Bai and Quang Ngai are the two provinces chosen to implement the SSK-RS program for 2022-2023 due to the provinces’ high need for road safety interventions. 

The Road Safety Day is organized by AIP Foundation in collaboration with the provincial Traffic Safety Committee of Quang Ngai and the National Traffic Safety Committee (NTSC), aimed to create an exciting playground for students in Quang Ngai province to have the opportunity to exchange, improve and strengthen their knowledge and skills on road safety. Throughout the day, students will explore different ways to be safe on the roads through interactive games and booths, including a helmet decorating contest as well as other team-building activities.

“Today marks an opportunity to spread the achievements of interactive and participative methods of the program for road safety education. This year, Quang Ngai province is honored to organize a provincial Road Safety day with the participation of more than 700 students and teachers of 4 project schools with the desire to spread the project’s profound message about the idea of establishing a safe school zone and educating to raise students’ awareness of traffic safety. We hope the Safe Steps Kids model will be replicated in many schools in Quang Ngai province and nationwide too.” shared Mr. Thanh, Chief of Provincial Traffic Safety Committee Officer of Quang Ngai.

Visit our website here to get the latest updates on our journey to bringing safe and sustainable mobility for all. 

Although Vietnam is regarded as a success story in enforcing the mandatory helmet law for riders of motorcycles, with a relatively high wearing rate nationwide, the persisting issue of wearing low-quality helmets needs to be addressed. Unfortunately, there are many helmets used that do not meet the standard of the National Technical Regulations on safety helmets. 

A total of 540 child and adult motorcycle helmets were collected and exchanged in Ho Chi Minh City and Thai Nguyen Province to undergo a quality research study conducted in partnership between the AIP Foundation and the Hanoi University of Public Health through the Safety Delivered program, supported by The UPS Foundation. 

25.9% of the surveyed helmets were identified as “cap helmets,” which lack the foam lining needed to adequately protect wearers’ heads. Worryingly, 89,5% of surveyed helmets worn are sub-standard helmets that would fail to significantly reduce the chance of brain injury or skull fracture of their users in a road crash.

To address this, AIP Foundation is working with The National Traffic Safety Committee and the Thai Nguyen Provincial Traffic Safety Committee to enhance the efficacy of the implementation of mandatory regulations. The plan serves as a basis for further solutions to enhance the effectiveness of enforcing laws requiring the use of helmets under the National Technical Regulations for riders of motorcycles, mopeds, and e-bikes nationwide to ensure that every road user is better protected on the streets. 

We are also gearing up to launch our first ever distribution of UN-standard helmets in Vietnam to increase the use of quality helmets among our students and parents. Stay tuned for more exciting updates on our journey to make roads safer for Vietnam! 

From April to May 2022, AIP Foundation in partnership with the UPS Foundation has organized a series of fun learning activities on road safety for students in Thai Nguyen Province, Vietnam. This came as part of our larger program called Safety Delivered, a program implemented by AIP Foundation to work with primary school students and motorcyclists in high-risk areas across Asia to reduce road crash injuries and fatalities among children and vulnerable road users, through inclusive helmet distribution and education, combined with advocacy and awareness initiatives. 

Our students participated in a drawing contest following the topic “Correct helmet wear – Safety Delivered” - raising their voices on what safe helmets mean to them. It was a unique opportunity for students to reflect on the road safety knowledge and lessons they learned through the program. Their artwork carries meaningful messages, such as the life-saving impact of a quality helmet,  or the importance of having road safety skills for parents. The activity concluded in May with an extracurricular event and the announcement of the winners of the contest. 

Mr. Thinh, Deputy Director at the Thai Nguyen Department of Education and Training expressed,  “As the protectors of our future generation, it is our responsibility to ensure that every student is safe on their way to and from school. We must work together to do this. We cannot hope to achieve this alone.” The work at AIP Foundation shares the same philosophy, we believe in collaboration with multi-stakeholders from the public and private sectors to achieve our goal of zero road crash fatalities. Visit our website here to receive our latest update and see how you can contribute to our ongoing road safety projects.

When 2021 came to an end, dedicated school staff and leaders from the Traffic Safety Committee and the Department of Education and Training gathered for a workshop to celebrate the successes of the Helmets for Kids program supported by Johnson & Johnson in Thai Nguyen and Tuyen Quang provinces.

This is home to a significant number of ethnic minorities, who face a range of challenges in accessing mainstream services and resources. The Helmets for Kids program aims to reduce brain injuries related to road crashes in school zones and the surrounding communities through increased rate of quality helmet use among children, making a life-saving difference for vulnerable school children on their way to and from school.

The program successfully delivered 5,828 helmets to students, teachers, and staff at 8 schools leading to an increase in helmet use from 26% to 85%. Through the program, teachers also received interactive training on road safety, and project schools were provided with booklets on helmet safety as educational materials. The workshop provided an opportunity for school representatives to share their stories on the project activities, emphasizing their achievements and designing a plan to scale up the project activities in the new year.

The workshop concluded another year of road safety achievements, paving the way for new interventions targeting other vulnerable communities. Since the start of 2022, AIP Foundation has kicked-off new initiatives to bring quality helmets to those who need them most. Visit our website here to receive our latest update and see how you can support to ensure safe roads for every child.