GM China and Safe Kids Worldwide launch 2015 Safe Kids Safe Ride Program

The 2015 Safe Kids Safe Ride program was launched on May 31 in Shanghai by General Motors China in cooperation with Safe Kids Worldwide. The objective of the annual activity, which began in 2014, is to reduce vehicle-related child injuries and to raise public awareness of child safety in and around vehicles.

Through the Safe Kids Safe Ride program, classes on the proper use of child safety seats and safe driving habits are organized by GM in selected cities across China. The classes include interactive activities for increasing children's road safety knowledge. A kindergarten teacher training plan has been added in 2015.

“Child safety is a priority for GM wherever we do business,” said GM executive vice-president and GM China president Matt Tsien. “By once again supporting the Safe Kids Safe Ride program, we look forward to increasing public awareness of child safety to protect China’s most precious vehicle users.”

Monica Cui, executive director of Safe Kids China, said: “We have already entered the era of children being born with cars. However, many parents are not aware of proper child passenger safety procedures, such as having a car seat ready when they take their newborns home from the hospital and having young children sit in the back seat. This requires strenuous advocacy among the public as well as the education of parents.”

In 2015, GM China has scheduled 25 Safe Kids Safe Ride program activities at kindergartens and primary schools in Beijing, Shanghai, Xiamen and Yantai. Employee volunteers from GM China, its Shanghai GM and Shanghai OnStar joint ventures, and Delphi Automotive in China will teach child safety. The program will also train teachers at 30 kindergartens and play a special Safe Kids Safe Ride video at 1,000 kindergartens. These activities are expected to benefit more than 15,000 Chinese children and their families.

During the 2015 Safe Kids Safe Ride program kickoff event at the Ruby Art Center in Shanghai, GM and media volunteers provided instructions on installing and removing child safety seats. They also led fun activities that taught children to sit in child safety seats in the back seat, never play behind vehicles and never touch buttons inside vehicles. Volunteers also showed families how a child safety seat can protect a child during emergency braking or in the event of a collision.

“The Safe Kids Safe Ride program is very important for General Motors,” said GM China volunteer Amanda Wei. “It is up to those of us who work in the automotive industry to educate children and their parents about how to properly use our vehicles in order to ensure they have a safe and happy journey.”

The Safe Kids Safe Ride program is endorsed by the Shanghai Public Security Bureau’s Traffic Police Corps, the Shanghai Municipal Center of Disease Control & Prevention, the Administrative Office of the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission’s Juvenile Protection Committee and Safe Kids Worldwide. It is an extension of an 18-year partnership between GM, the GM Foundation and Safe Kids Worldwide to keep kids around the world safe in and around vehicles.