Around 2,000 children lose their lives to traffic accidents in Vietnam each year. Thus, it is very important to raise awareness of traffic safety in Vietnamese children and protect them from traffic accidents. Since the robotic cat Doraemon has been a symbol of traffic safety among Japanese children for decades, it was also chosen to be the symbol for the programme now launched in Vietnam.
"As we aim to protect children, we want to choose a character that can convey the right message to children. Since Doraemon is loved by many Vietnamese children, we believe that he can gain children’s attention about traffic safety." - Tsuneda Teruo, Executive Director, Mainichi Newspapers.
The program called ‘Doraemon and Traffic Safety in Vietnam’’ will be deployed in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in its early stages before being widely implemented across Vietnam. Under the programme, a slogan-making contest was launched nationwide, targeting two age groups of children: six to 15, and those aged 16 and above. The best entries will be selected for poster of the year, which will be exhibited at all elementary schools across the country.
"We expect the programme to teach life skills to Vietnamese children while waking up the public to traffic safety. Thus, we want them to think of a slogan for the traffic safety programme." - Senior Lieutenant Colonel DO THANH BINH, Deputy Head of Traffic Police Department.
The programme also includes classes on traffic safety, which will be piloted at two schools in Hanoi and two in Ho Chi Minh City this September. Accordingly, officers from the Traffic Police Department will visit the schools to provide students there with knowledge about traffic safety as well as traffic safety laws and skills.
