200,000 Traffic Vanguards Protect Family--BMW Wraps up 2009 Children’s Traffic Safety Education in Beijing
(Beijing) Hundreds of excited children made the China Children’s Centre a world of happiness today. BMW held the closing ceremony of its 2009 Children’s Traffic Safety Education and marked the fifth anniversary of the event here. Mr. Olaf Kastner, President and CEO of BMW Brilliance Automotive Ltd., released the achievements of the training program and “BMW Children’s Traffic Safety Clapping Song” greeted the children for the first time. A bear cub named An’an, the mascot of the training camp acted by five children, gave a special gift – a collection of the BMW Auto Sticker Design Competition – to Mr. Olaf Kastner for BMW’s contribution to the education of children’s traffic safety over the past five years. Around 100,000 children benefited from the program this year, taking the total number of the past five years to over 200,000. BMW will offer the Children’s Traffic Safety Clapping Song disks to kindergartens across the nation by the end of the year so that more children will benefit. Attending the ceremony was Mr. Zhao Zesheng, Deputy Director of China Children’s Center as well as Officers from Beijing Traffic Administration Bureau. With 5-year endless effort, BMW teaches 200,000 children traffic safety rules |
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BMW has operated the training camp themed “I’m a Little Traffic Safety Volunteer” in cooperation with the China Children’s Centre in 18 cities this year since the first camp was launched in Beijing in April. 6,000 children from 250 kindergartens acquired knowledge of traffic safety with their parents through BMW’s traffic safety theme park, clapping songs, traffic cop role-playing and the journals kept by the bear cub An’an. BMW invited outstanding traffic cops of each city to the program to show the children and their parents how traffic safety worked. To benefit more children, BMW began in 2008 offering traffic safety gift packs to over 500 kindergartens nationwide. More than 200,000 have benefited from the training camp over the past five years. To celebrate the fifth anniversary of the success of the training camp, BMW invited prominent preschool educators to compose the “BMW Children’s Traffic Safety Clapping Song” and had a nationwide selection of the leading roles of the MV in 10 cities. More than 2,000 children posted their performance video clips online in the seven months of signing up and selection; 50 were through to the next round and finally 10 children from 10 cities went to Beijing for the shooting of the MV. After the ceremony, BMW will give the MV disks to the kindergarten children across the nation through the Children’s Centre. |
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Mr. Zhao Zesheng, Deputy Director of China Children’s Centre said: “The five-year effort has made the training camp a paradise as well as an educational base for preschool children to learn and obey traffic safety rules. They not only learnt important traffic rules but became responsible enough of a ‘traffic safety vanguard’ to ‘supervise’ their parents and the adults around. This action should be appreciated. I believe every family can set an example and contribute to a harmonious society and safe traffic environment.”
Offer affection and combat drunken driving, BMW steps up education on children’s safety
To help the children apply the traffic safety rules they had learned, BMW organized an auto sticker design competition in 10 cities to encourage them to express their understanding of traffic safety through their imagination and creativity. Over 5,000 children from over 500 kindergartens signed up. BMW selected the best 10 paintings and turned them into stickers that were later given to the public in a bid to call for complying with traffic rules. Moreover, BMW held a special event of BMW Warm Heart Fund for the quake-hit children in Chengdu, launched the “Complete Traffic Safety Experience” in Shenyang and ran a “Keep Family at Heart, Don’t Drink and Drive” campaign in Shanghai and Guangzhou to deepen the education on children’s safety.
Mr. Olaf Kastner, President and CEO of BMW Brilliance, said: “Seeing the smiles on these lovely children's faces throughout this meaningful program, has been the best reward to our five-year dedication. As an indispensable part of BMW China Corporate Social Contribution Activities, this program will continue to accompany Chinese children through a safe process of growing up. We’ve found that children are not only fast learners, but also powerful influencers on their parents' behavior. That is why, next year, you can expect even more family engagement in our program, with the children leading their parents by the hand.”
As a world leading automotive product manufacturer, BMW is also the world's first automaker providing professional training on road safety to all drivers. In China, BMW Children’s Traffic Safety Education is the most important part in education support area of BMW China Corporate Social Contribution Activities.
