HO CHI MINH City, Vietnam - October 30, 2014

On October 30, FedEx and Safe Kids-AIP Foundation supported International Walk to School Month by holding a Safety Walk for students at Phuoc Binh Primary School in District 9 of Ho Chi Minh City. The event is part of Safe Kids Walk This Way, a road safety advocacy program with the goal of increasing awareness about pedestrian welfare to create safer walking environments in Vietnam.

Government officials from the National Traffic Safety Committee, Ministry of Education and Training, Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, and other Ho Chi Minh City authorities; Goodwill Ambassador and Singer Ngo Kien Huy; senior representatives from FedEx and AIP Foundation; Parents; and volunteers joined the students and school administrators for the Safety Walk to promote safe walking practices that aim to reduce traffic crashes involving pedestrians.

The program puts a special focus on children for whom traffic crashes are a leading cause of injury and death. This year’s WTW programs will include a photojournalism project that will encourage 11,893 students from 12 secondary schools to capture images of safe or dangerous road user behaviors and environments, a series of road user workshops that will bring pedestrian safety education and equipment to 20,145 students in 18 primary schools throughout District 9 in Ho Chi Minh City, and target schools in District 9 will undergo structural changes to improve the pedestrian environment for students.

Inaugurated in Vietnam in 2009, Safe Kids Walk This Way has already reached more than 55,005 students from 70 primary and secondary schools with hands-on safety workshops and teaching sessions throughout the country.  FedEx has also installed a 1,700-square-meter traffic safety park in Dong Nai province for primary school students as well as donated 3,472 helmets, 19,885 reflective jackets, and 46,446 pedestrian safety books to children.