SONGKLA Province, Thailand - July 18, 2018

More than 250 students, parents, and teachers from 11 program schools in the Singhanakhon and Muang districts of Songkhla province gathered today to celebrate the launch of Phase III of the Street Wise road safety program, a collaboration between AIP Foundation and Chevron Thailand. The latest stage of Street Wise is expanding to Tesaban Muang Singhanakhon 1 Primary School, the only primary school in the municipality that has not yet receivedStreet Wiseprogramming. Street Wise is expected to reach more than 10,000 new primary school students, family members, and teachers as a result of the expansion.

In addition to handing over 250 helmets to students from the new target school and distributing 450 reflective safety vests to student ambassadors, AIP Foundation also presented certificates to the 30 “Master Trainers” who recently completed the road safety curriculum training. These trainers will be responsible for training fellow teachers and community members on helmet safety. A booth was also set up at the event to raise awareness on the current road safety situation in Thailand and Street Wise’s educational approach to road safety interventions.

Street Wise incorporates road safety education, extracurricular activities, parental and community activities, and stakeholder engagement into a targeted approach to improving the pedestrian and helmet skills of road users. From 2014 to 2017, helmet-wearing rates at neighboring Street Wise program schools in Songkhla Province increased from 3% to 55%. Since the program’s launch, approximately 5,000 parents have attended workshops, and 37 teachers from 11 target schools have been trained on the road safety curriculum.