#BeRoadSafe challenge puts road safety back on the map

Leaders from all over the world will mobilise and come up with solutions that will save lives at the Fifth United Nations Road Safety Week, taking place this week. These global pioneers, celebrities, influencers, policy-makers and ambassadors will provide ideas and interventions that will form part of the SaveLIVES: global road safety guide.
Puma Energy and Road Safety Ambassador, Phillip Kekana
Puma Energy and Road Safety Ambassador, Phillip Kekana

Puma Energy and Road Safety Ambassador, Phillip Kekana, will join the cause and has put out a challenge to South Africans to become road safety heroes in their community. They want South Africans to speak up and share their #BeRoadSafe safies (a photo of one’s self publicising an act of safety or showcasing areas of risk in a community). These pictures, posters, pledges and appeals aim to inspire motorists and pedestrians to become road safety heroes across our nation.

“We must make the streets safe for drivers, pedestrians and our kids. Road safety is something that is progressively getting worse unless we stand up and do something about it. I believe we can all be road safety heroes by slowing down, focusing while driving and watch out for the young kids crossing the roads. We should drive as if every child on the street were our own because that child could be the next pioneer of our country,” urges Phillip Kekana, Puma Energy Road Safety Ambassador.

Puma Energy has begun to energise local communities across Africa by implementing road safety infrastructure in 10 countries across sub-Saharan Africa. These lifesaving road safety programmes have reached over 130,000 urban children in high-risk traffic zones. In Africa, child pedestrians are among the high-risk groups for road traffic injury, and a child in Africa is twice as likely to die on the roads as a child in any other region around the world. These incidents highlight the importance of road safety education.

Seggie Kistasamy, general manager of Puma Energy South Africa, says “Bad driving cannot be ignored, when our children hit the streets they are at risk and we need to ensure they return home safely. We are proud to working with Phillip Kekana to do our part to make our streets safe again.”

Road traffic deaths on the rise

A new report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) indicates road traffic deaths continue to rise, with 1.35 million annual fatalities. Road traffic injuries are now the leading killer of children and young people aged between 5 and 29 years old. Road safety is an issue that sadly does not receive the attention it deserves - and it really is one of our great opportunities to save lives around the world.

“We believe if we all work together and make road safety a priority, we can all save lives. We are eager to see the #BeRoadSafe safies that our fans will share. These fans will ultimately become the posters kids of road safety highlighting what they are doing, what can be done and pointing out areas their community that are hazardous. We hope to come to the rescue by improving the infrastructure like we have done in some many countries across Africa already. This road safety initiative aims to find innovative solutions and create road safety measures that will better protect our children in the future,” concludes, Kistasamy.

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