HANOI, Vietnam – December 8, 2022

AIP Foundation is pioneering helmet safety standards innovation by bringing the first United Nations ECE 22.05 Standard helmets to Vietnam. This program is part of the growing legacy of theHelmets for Kidsprogram supported by Johnson & Johnson and in collaboration with the National Traffic Safety Committee and the Hanoi Department of Education and Training.

“It is great to see the first initiative of the ECE 22.05 Standard helmets in Hanoi, Vietnam. The National Traffic Safety Committee and the Government of Vietnam remain committed to tackling the use of low-quality helmets in our country. We hope to see this initiative spread all across Vietnam,” shared Dr. Tran Huu Minh, Chief of the National Traffic Safety Committee.

“TheHelmets for Kidsprogram focuses on how we can all make a difference to be safer on the roads. The helmet handover ceremony and the Road Safety Day at Phung Khac Khoan High School will continue to promote community awareness of the life-saving importance of increasing young adult helmet use. It is the biggest event of theHelmets for Kidsprogram this year,” shares Lê Chi Thúy Dung, General Director of Johnson & Johnson (Vietnam) Co., Ltd.

To mark the Road Safety Day, a handover ceremony was held at Phung Khac Khoan High School earlier today where a new helmet model that meets the United Nations ECE 22.05 Standard was revealed. This model has proven to absorb higher values of energy that occur during an impact.

The ECE 22.05 helmets are designed with geometries and materials with enhanced mechanical properties. The ability of the helmets to absorb more energy leads to a significant reduction of the energy transmitted to the head that, if not reduced over certain values, can potentially create injuries to the rider.

Johnson & Johnson is the first AIP Foundation partner to introduce and support this initiative to improve the quality helmet use among students as part of itsHelmets for Kidsprogram. 5,000 helmets of which 2,000 are part of the ECE 22.05 pilot program, will be distributed to three target schools as part of the helmet handover ceremony and Road Safety Day this year.  The helmets for this handover were produced by Protec, AIP Foundation’s social enterprise. The helmets make a life-saving difference for vulnerable students on their way to and from school in Hanoi. Wearing a quality helmet can reduce the risk of death by 42% and the risk of serious brain injury by 69%.

Phung Khac Khoan High School is located on a provincial road that is often plagued by heavy traffic. The area outside the school exposes high risks for road crashes. The helmet-wearing rate among students is currently particularly low, as only 16% of students wear helmets. Most students commute to and from school by motorbikes and electric bikes daily.

The event will commence with a welcome and introduction by Dr. Tran Huu Minh, Chief of the National Traffic Safety Committee Office, and Johnson & Johnson, respectively. Following the introduction, the students will participate in a helmet fitting and engage in road safety activities and games. This brings about a unique opportunity for every child at the school to learn more about helmet safety through educational activities as well as marking a chance to spread the word about the importance of helmet safety among the local governments and members of the community.

Since 2004, Johnson & Johnson has been a longtime and trusted partner of AIP Foundation. This year, we are proud to celebrate 10 years of theHelmets for Kidsprogram supported by Johnson & Johnson. From 2012 to 2022, the program has provided over 74,000 helmets to schools across 9 Vietnamese provinces, in addition to providing tools and resources to ensure children in the community are commuting to school safely.