Thailand - September 14, 2014

Slogo finalists, with winning slogo (left) and popular vote (right) pictured, strive to help make helmets the new norm

This month, Save the Children and AIP Foundation announced the winner of the Slogan and Logo, or “Slogo,” competition at an event at TK Park at CentralWorld. The competition invited participants to submit ideas for a slogan and logo for The 7% Project, a new campaign led by Save the Children and AIP Foundation aimed at decreasing motorcycle fatalities and injuries among Thailand’s 18 million children by promoting regular helmet use as the accepted norm.

The winning logo roughly translates to “Kids, wearing a helmet is a must” and in Thai, uses clever play-on words. The popular vote, which received the most online votes but was ultimately not selected by the judges, translates to “if you care wear a helmet.”

The 7% Project comes after a survey in 2012 revealed that only 7% of Thai children wear helmets when travelling on a motorcycle. At the event, Mrs. Ratana Winther, Country Director for AIP Foundation in Thailand, said the project will focus on four approaches: education, enforcement, media, and innovation. Panelists at the event, including Mrs. Winther, a parent representative, and a preschool principal, pointed out different reasons for not wearing helmets, including a lack of awareness on road safety, an easy-going habit among Thais, carelessness, short driving distances, laziness, and lax law enforcement. “Parental attitude is considered one of the key challenges to improving road safety habits,” she said. “Working closely with teachers, parents, and students, motorcycle helmets will be featured as a permanent part of the school uniform.”

Read more from the article,“’Millions’ of children on roads unprotected: Shock study results spur bike helmet push,” Bangkok Post, 15 September.