Helmet Safety

Did you know?

  • Non-helmet users of motorized two-wheelers are 3 times more likely to sustain head trauma than helmet users.
  • Motorcycles form the majority of motorized two- and three-wheelers in most Southeast Asian countries.

Why helmets?

We focus on helmets as a road safety intervention because:

  • In developing countries, motorcycles are the vast majority of vehicles on the road and are involved in more road crashes than any other type of vehicle.
  • Wearing a helmet has been proven to reduce the risk of death by 42% and serious injury by 69% in the event of a crash.
  • Helmets are tangible — their use is easily enforced and wearing rates are easily tallied — given human and financial resources

What We Do

In recent years, to improve the helmet safety situation, we implemented a number of programs:

  • Helmets for Kids (Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar)
  • Helmets for Families (Vietnam, Cambodia)
  • The 7% Project (Thailand)
  • Head Safe, Helmet On (Cambodia)
  • National Child Helmet Action Plan (Vietnam)

Through these programs, we implement:

  • Provision of quality helmets and training workshops for students, teachers, and parents
  • Public awareness campaigns that seek to Increase awareness of child helmet use
  • Advocacy work that seeks to create sustained behavior changes among children and community members
  • Enforcement trainings with police and teachers to reinforce child helmet use
  • Research work to better understand road safety issues, needs, and interventions
  • Pre- and post-implementation observations and knowledge assessments to evaluate program effectiveness

Case Study: Vietnam

In 2006, before nationwide mandatory helmet laws, motorcycle helmet use in Vietnam was less than 30% on average and just 10% on city roads. In 2007, after years-long advocacy efforts championed by AIP Foundation in partnership with diverse stakeholders, the Vietnamese government enacted a national helmet law mandating helmet use for motorcycle users. Upon passage of the law, helmet use immediately increased to 96%. AIP Foundation estimates that approximately $3.5 billion USD has been saved, and nearly 502,774 road injuries and 15,302 fatalities have been prevented throughout the following decade.

In 2017, we supported the Vietnamese government in organizing a national review conference to conduct a comprehensive assessment of achievements, challenges, and lessons learned after 10 years of implementing the motorcycle helmet law. The meeting established next steps and objectives for improved child helmet use and compliance with the recently issued new helmet standard, TCVN 5756:2017.

Safe School Zones and Pedestrian Safety

Did you know?

  • Every three minutes, a child or young person dies as a result of a road crash injury.
  • Globally, pedestrians comprise 23% of all road crash related deaths per year.
  • Simple modifications such as a walkable sidewalk or road markings can significantly decrease the likelihood of a child being involved in a road crash near school.

What We Do

AIP Foundation works with governments, civil society, and local communities to create a safer and more walkable environment for children. These efforts are carried out across our program countries through a number of safety programs, including:

  • Slow Zones, Safe Zones (Vietnam)
  • Street Wise (Thailand)
  • Walk This Way (Vietnam)
  • Walk Wise (China)

These programs apply a proven pedestrian safety approach that utilizes the following components:

Targeted Education – We develop road safety curriculum, school policies, and extracurricular activities designed to teach students about safe walking and driving practices. Parents and teachers also receive training so they can serve as road safety models for students.

Communications for Change – In addition to education and training, we launch public awareness campaigns to promote positive behaviors for both motorists and pedestrians. These campaigns incorporate the use of billboards, TV, radio, social media, and other outreach methods.

Advocacy – Local lawmakers and enforcers play an important role in creating safe walking environments around schools. We build relationships with governments to advocate for progressive legislation and regulatory tools, combined with enforcement.

Road Modifications – Physical modifications to the infrastructure around a school can drastically improve the walkability and safety for pedestrians. Examples of modifications include zebra crossings, sidewalks, speed bumps, and speed limit and traffic signs.

Research, Monitoring, and Evaluation – We utilize the iRAP Star Rating for Schools application to assess and rate the quality of existing school environments. We also administer student knowledge assessments and conduct filmed behavioral observations before and after interventions. The data collected is used as evidence for programs, policy change, and best practices.

Case Study: Model Safe School Zones

In 2009, operating as Safe Kids Vietnam, we began implementation of the Walk This Way pedestrian safety program in Vietnam. Since its inception, the program has grown to include school-based education programs, awareness and advocacy activities, infrastructure improvements, and research aimed at creating safe environments for students on their commute to and from school.

As part of Walk This Way, we launched a pilot safe school zone which included the first push-button crossing signal at a Vietnamese school. Outcomes from the pilot school zone proved extremely successful. After installing the modifications, crosswalk use increased by 32%, and sidewalk use by 34%.

We used these positive results to advocate to the Vietnamese government for building additional safe school zones at 37 Walk This Way program schools. Our success with the safe school zone implementation model also informed the creation of our Slow Zones, Safe Zones program, which implements a set of comprehensive interventions to improve road user behavior in school zones with a focus on speed reduction.

Distracted Driving and Driver Skills

Did you know?

Distractions are categorized into four types:

  1. Auditory: masking sounds such as ambulance sirens and honks by music or ringtones
  2. Cognitive: reflecting on a subject of conversation as a result of talking to someone else outside of the driving environment at hand
  3. Physical: holding or operating a device instead of steering with both hands
  4. Visual: looking away from the road for a non-driving related task

A driver talking on a mobile phone is four times more likely to be involved in a road crash than one who is not.

Young drivers are more likely to be using a mobile phone while driving than older drivers, and are particularly vulnerable to the effects of distraction given their relative inexperience behind the wheel.
An increasing use of mobile phones and motorcycles in Southeast Asia makes distracted driving a severe problem.

What We Do

The World Health Organization defines driver distraction as “the diversion of attention from activities critical for safe driving towards a competing activity.” To tackle this problem, we are working with young, inexperienced motorcycle drivers to improve their distracted driving behaviors through education and awareness campaigns.

Our Safety Delivered program being implemented in Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam works with young, inexperienced motorcycle drivers to teach them of the dangers of distracted driving. Our Driving Skills for Life program works on safe car driving skills with drivers in Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. Additionally, our Lifting Safety program works with truck drivers in Vietnam to provide them with safe driving skills.

Our distracted driving programs includes three key components: awareness campaigns, education, and simulations for novice drivers.

Community-focused awareness campaigns
Our programs create shareable content with a creative message to stimulate dialogue on the issue of distracted driving/mobile phone use. Campaign messaging is disseminated across television, digital media, traditional media, and community outreach events in order to raise awareness nationwide about the risks of distracted driving.

Peer-based education
One-way education is not effective. Instead, we involve local youth ambassadors in every step of the process, including the development of safe driving training manuals and awareness activities. We also organize youth leadership training programs in universities, equipping students with the knowledge and skills to promote road safety awareness about distracted driving among their peers and community members.

Simulation courses for novice drivers

We host car and motorcycle driving trainings for youth and public transportation drivers in order to provide them with the skills to keep their communities safe.

Seatbelts and Child Restraints

Did you know?

  • If correctly installed and used, child restraints reduce deaths among infants by approximately 70% and deaths among small children by between 54% and 80%.
  • If a person is not wearing a seat belt, they are 30 times more likely to be ejected from a vehicle in a crash. More than 75% of people who are ejected die.
  • The simple act of buckling a seatbelt is one of the most effective ways to save lives. Seatbelt use reduces serious and fatal injuries by 40% to 65%.
  • The use of child restraints can reduce the risk of death for children by 60%.
  • Only 5 countries in Southeast Asia have comprehensive seatbelt laws, and no countries in Southeast Asia have comprehensive child seat laws.

What We Do

To raise the awareness of the importance of child passenger safety, we implemented the Protect Your Precious, #3500Lives, and Child Car Safety Initiative programs in Vietnam, which include the following components:

Communication campaigns

We developed an awareness raising campaign focused on child passenger safety, and aired the campaign across various media channels including radio and social media.

Awareness events

We hosted launch events in Hanoi with key government stakeholders and car-owning parents at a program school.

Parent workshops

We hosted workshops at schools in Hanoi, Danang & Ho Chi Minh City for car-owning parents to provide key information on how to best protect their children when driving.

Speeding

Did you know?

  • A 5% cut in average vehicle speed can result in a 30% reduction in fatal crashes.
  • A person struck by a vehicle traveling at 30 km/h has a 90% chance of survival while a person struck by a vehicle traveling at 60 km/h has a 90% chance of death.
  • When driving at 65km/h, the risk of a road crash is double that of driving at 60km/h and when driving at 70km/h, the risk is four times higher.

What We Do

AIP Foundation has implemented various programs in Southeast Asia to solve the speeding problem:

  • Legal Development Program (Thailand)
  • Lifting Safety (Vietnam)
  • Slow Zones, Safe Zones (Vietnam)
  • Slow Down to Save Lives (Thailand)
  • Safety Delivered (Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam)
  • Walk This Way (Vietnam)

Through these programs, we incorporate comprehensive interventions including public awareness campaigns, targeted education, road modifications (such as sidewalks, zebra crossings, traffic lights, speed bumps, etc.), and advocacy for establishing safer speed limits and increasing enforcement.

Case Study: Slow Down to Save Lives

Slow Down to Save Lives is our campaign in Thailand to establish pilot safe speed zones around Bangkok. As part of the campaign, we released a successful video PSA, “Tell Auntie PIA” (“Fong Pa PIA”).

“Tell Auntie PIA” garnered over 1 million views on Facebook and was selected for the 2017 APHA Global Public Health Film Festival. It urged the public to submit comments and images through social media of risky road behaviors that they see and dangerous traffic areas in the city. We presented all comments and images submitted by the public to relevant public works agencies in order to advocate for establishing pilot safe speed zones in Bangkok.

Based on the results of the “Tell Auntie PIA” campaign, in August 2018, the Bangkok Governor agreed to establish a pilot safe speed zone around Yothinburana School in Bang Sue District, Bangkok that would reduce the speed limit to 30 km/h from 80 km/h. As of February 2019, the new laws have gone into effect and 37 of Thailand’s 77 provinces have followed suit with similar speed limits in certain areas.

Occupational Safety

Did you know?

 Road crashes cost developing economies, on average, 3-5% of their annual GDP.

  • A hazardous mix of poor road conditions, inexperienced drivers, unsafe vehicles, and increasing heavy traffic harms the safety of workers and the community.
  • A safe and healthy work environment leads to increased productivity and reduced lost output.

What We Do

AIP Foundation has developed expertise with designing and delivering targeted trainings to professional drivers through our Lifting Safety in Vietnam and our garment factory worker initiative in Cambodia. In each program, we worked directly with drivers, government officials, and road safety experts to analyze drivers’ needs and create education and training materials to improve their skills and ultimately prevent road crashes from happening.

We have also worked with the National Traffic Safety Committee and relevant road safety stakeholders in Vietnam to use the truck driver handbooks for government-directed truck driving skills programs.

Case Study: Garment Factory Workers in Cambodia

In Cambodia, an estimated 600-700,000 workers are directly employed in the garment and footwear sector— 80% of these workers are female.

In 2017, we worked with partners to establish the Garment and Footwear Sector Road Safety strategy, which provides a roadmap to improve the commute for workers through four strategic objectives:

  • Improve road safety management & accountability
  • Safer infrastructure and planning
  • Safer vehicles and modes of transport
  • Safer road users

Using the strategy as a road map, international garment and footwear brands and buyers are supporting a one-year pilot program to be delivered at five factories, currently in the process of expanding. Key program activities include:

  • Developing and implementing road safety policy and criteria for safer transport
  • Launching awareness campaigns and education trainings to promote safer driving behaviors among workers and drivers
  • Promoting regular consultation and engagement between relevant government bodies and stakeholders

Developing and delivering training of trainers courses for national technical officials and factory representatives.