It’s never too young to learn the basics of road safety as some 32 pre-schoolers from Tadika Sri Cemerlang Jaya discovered the basic guidelines of road-crossing during a road safety training programme at the Fill Up With Air (FUWA) campaign organised by Michelin Malaysia at One Utama shopping centre recently.
The sixth FUWA awareness initiative marks the first joint effort between MICHELIN and its global retail concept, TYREPLUS. It aims to promote and establish a culture of road safety consciousness among young ones and to engage adults through their children’s eagerness to learn and share their knowledge.
“Learning and appreciating the importance of road safety habits at an early age is essential to ensure their safety and inculcate good road sense and traffic awareness skills. “As road accidents caused by simply overlooking basic elements such as tyre maintenance, children can play a vital role in raising the awareness and keeping parents in check in terms of road safety, driving habits and vehicle maintenance,” said Beltran Yturriaga, Managing Director of Michelin Malaysia.
The pre-schoolers viewed an animated video of MICHELIN Total Performance, showcasing the safety and many other features of a MICHELIN tyre before the activities began. They were then brought to the first activity station where the MICHELIN staff explained about the importance of wearing a seat belt and how to wear it correctly. A practical and enjoyable training program using a simulated road environment was also developed aimed at improving road-crossing skills such as stopping before reaching the curb, looking left and right for traffic, listening and walking in a crosswalk amongst the pre-schoolers.
At the end of the session, the children were presented a school bag and MICHELIN Man stickers as a reward for successfully completing the activities.
“We really appreciate the road safety initiative by Michelin Malaysia as it provides an opportunity for the children to learn and practice road safety outside the school compound. We believe that the practical exercises would enhance their understanding of road safety and imbue a sense of responsibility to children who will one day also be qualified drivers on our roads,” said Lee Sai Weng, Chairman of Tadika Sri Cemerlang Jaya.
Like the rest of the kindergarten students, Tan Shin Ying, 6 years old and sister, Tan Shin Yu, 3 years old were excited and keen to showcase what they have learnt from the road safety activities with Michelin staff and their parents. “We had lots of fun and the children really enjoyed taking part in the activities and receiving their own school bag and sticker at the end of the session. I have not taught my daughters about the road safety rules and such activities help them to understand and develop good road safety behaviour,” said 36-year-old Kaness Chong, the mother of the two sisters at the FUWA roadshow.
Participants who completed a quick survey regarding TYREPLUS received a car sticker which offers a free nitrogen fill-up at TYREPLUS outlets at nationwide. Free professional tyre pressure checks and fill ups were also provided during the event to reinforce the importance of correct tyre pressure to enhance safety, promote longer tyre life while protecting the environment among car owners.
“The MICHELIN staff were really helpful. They explained to me the condition of my existing tyres and provided advice on tyre care and safety,” said 43-year old Lee Sing Yuan, from Bandar Sri Damansara.
