Story & photos by Ronald Rey M. de los Reyes
THIS scribe is a proud father of two adorable kids—a 3-year-old daughter (about to turn 4 this November) and her older brother (7- year-old Tyron).
Until now it still runs vividly in my head that it was one sunny Saturday morning, when they both excitedly joined Volkswagen Philippines’s “Steps to Safety” held at the ground floor of Robinson’s Magnolia in New Manila, Quezon City.
Together with Philippine Global Road Safety Partnership (PGRSP), the said campaign served as part of the carmaker’s award-winning Child Safety Initiative (CSI) program, which started two years ago at the 2015 Manila International Auto Show.
As a refresher, this newly introduced program is the next level sequel to the graduates of the campaign’s Junior Driving Course. To up the ante, the Steps to Safety initiative, this time, became the venue for children aged 9 to 12 years old to personally learn the importance of being a responsible pedestrian.
“Our focus for this year are children walking the streets. Why children? Because we see them as good communicators. They are able to say to their parents what they want, as honestly as they can. And if you inculcate road safety into their mindsets in a fun and memorable way, they will be able to serve as good reminders to adults,” PGRSP secretary-general and former Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Chief Alberto Suansing said.
“In fact, road safety here in the Philippines has been quite a challenge. We’ve been doing it now for the past 25 years. We’re still in the process of spreading the information that when it comes to road safety, everyone should be involved,” Suansing added.
According to him, since all of us use the road, either by walking, driving or riding, then we should all be responsible road users. And more than just being good communicators, steering everyone into the right course as early as possible can eventually help in developing more mature and sensible motorists in the future.
For kids, aged 4 to 8, meanwhile, tried out the Volkswagen push carts and drove it along the Junior Driving Course wherein the said simulated track featured a mini-community complete with road signs and stop lights. Not to mention, mini-lectures were conducted on the importance of signages and observing proper etiquette on the road. After completing the said program, graduates then received their junior driver’s license.
My kids, for one, were able to actively participate. They listened attentively, curiously asked questions, especially Tyron (who is always known to be that ever enthusiastic little studious bambino back in his school). The older Steps to Safety participants, on the other hand, first kicked off with a 15-minute seminar focusing on pedestrian safety. In the said seminar, various modules were discussed that included the basics, such as Plan (finding the best safest way to cross the road), Stop (taking a moment to get ready before stepping onto the road) and Look (observing and looking for oncoming vehicles on both sides of the road before crossing).
The syllabus also provided tips on safe pedestrian crossing. These include avoiding walking at night or when it’s raining, being extra visible by wearing bright clothes, being aware of lights and sounds coming from approaching vehicles, making eye-contact with drivers before crossing, and following pedestrian traffic signs/lights.
In addition, the right of way in crossing roads with and without pedestrian lanes was also further tackled. For example, for roads with marked pedestrian lanes on them, the person crossing the street is deemed to have the “right of way”; while roads without them, the vehicles are otherwise more entitled to it. Not to mention discussing to the young that crossing the street is safe when both sides of the road are clear.
The second part of Steps to Safety had the kids use a virtual-reality (VR) simulator to apply the lessons learned during the talks. The VR presented the kids with almost realistic representations of a community with pedestrian lanes, vehicles, road signs and traffic lights. They were tasked to safely walk and cross the streets while paying attention to pedestrians, cars and different signs, lights.
Meanwhile, adults specifically the parents, were informed about Volkswagen’s other display set up featuring different samples of child seats for automobiles.
“We’re doing everything to contribute to road safety,” Volkswagen Philippines COO Klaus Schadewald said.
“Making the roads safer is a priority. We’ll never stop doing this.”
To date, according to the carmaker, there are already a total of 7, 917 children, together with 5,995 parents/guardians, who have participated worthwhile endeavor.
Personally, this writer believes that it’s wonderful that kids are already learning these things early in life. In fact, right after taking the course, there’s this instance that while driving back home together with my children from Robinson’s Magnolia, Tyron suddenly blurted out, “Daddy, green is go and red means stop and the red sign with a white stripe in the middle is ‘no entry’.”
Image credits: Ronald Rey M. de los Reyes