FIA Slowing Down Saves Lives campaign launched in Azerbaijan
AMAK launched the campaign in Baku on 19th September to coincide with TISPOL’s Project EDWARD campaign (European Day Without A Road Death).
The launch included a dedicated session for local school children and teachers on how to keep safe on the road. During the session representatives from the State Road Police along with Hayat Humanitarian Organisation tasked the children with sharing opinions about the dangers of speed and calling on their parents and other drivers in the city to slow down.
An estimated 40-50 per cent of people drive over the speed limit and just a 5 per cent reduction in speed could result in a 30 per cent decrease in number of road traffic deaths. In Azerbaijan, there are around 1000 road fatalities every year. A significant number of these are children and one of the main causes is excessive speeding.
To give the children better awareness of speed and how they can keep safe on the road, they were shown campaign videos prepared by the FIA and had a go at playing on the Slowing Down Saves Lives video game, specifically adapted to Azeri language. The game lets you choose the speed of a vehicle driving down the road and then asks the player to select the safest stopping distance. The aim of using the game was to help the children understand if and when to wait before crossing the road as a car may not always be able to stop quickly if travelling at speed.
The Slow Down campaign is part of the FIA #3500 lives initiative which is supported by campaign ambassadors Patrick Dempsey and Yohan Blake.
