Petition aims to get children to wear motorbike helmets
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THE Asia Injury Prevention Foundation (AIP) and Save the Children will submit a 15,000-signature petition to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration on Wednesday in a bid to get schools under the BMA's supervision to join their campaign for a major increa
The signatures to support the “7 per cent” campaign were collected via the website www.7-percent.org and change.org.
Save the Children coordinator Arunrat Wattanapalin said that if the city were ready to support this campaign, the organisers were prepared to implement pilot projects at Bangkok schools immediately.
Noting that 1.3 million Thai children ride to school as passengers on motorcycles each school day, the campaign aims to increase helmet use by children from the current level of 7 per cent to 60 per cent.
There is also an emphasis on trying to persuade the authorities to include helmets as part of school uniforms.
Thailand has the second-most-dangerous roads in the world. Every year more than 2,600 children are killed and more than 72,000 injured.
