(New York, USA) – The city of Bogotá, Colombia, announced a new campaign to reduce road deaths by increasing helmet use among motorcyclists. Secretary of Mobility, Juan Pablo Bocarejo, announced the campaign, titled “Buckle Up Your Helmet, Protect Your Life.” The social media campaign will run until April 25, during the city’s ‘Motorcycle Month’ in April. The campaign is part of the Bloomberg Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS), of which Vital Strategies is an implementing partner.
Motorcyclists make up nearly one-fourth of all road traffic deaths globally. In Bogotá, one motorcyclist dies on the roads every two days, on average, according to the city’s Road Safety Department under the Secretary of Mobility. In 2017, the city suffered 152 motorcyclist deaths, and another 4,331 were injured. Proper helmet use can reduce the risk of death by almost 40 percent, as well as the risk of serious injury by roughly 70 percent.
“Over 1.25 million people are killed in road crashes each year, with another 20-50 million sustaining severe and often debilitating injuries,” said José Luis Castro, President and CEO of Vital Strategies. “In cities like Bogotá, where motorcycle use is on the rise, critical action is needed to ensure the safety of all riders. We are proud to support cities like Bogotá in designing and implementing life-saving solutions that are backed by data. We applaud Bogotá’s Juan Pablo Bocarejo on the launch of this campaign to increase proper helmet use and save lives.”
The campaign features a Public Service Announcement (PSA) emphasizing the deadly consequences of improper helmet use through strong imagery. In the PSA, a father safely returns home to his children thanks to the helmet he wore while riding his motorcycle. In support of the campaign, Bogotá’s traffic police will hold additional enforcement operations and provide trainings with motorcycle users to increase riders’ understanding of life-saving safety measures, such as proper helmet use.
The campaign is featured on the city’s Motorcycle Month microsite here.
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Vital Strategies is a global health organization that believes every person should be protected by a strong public health system. Our team combines evidence-based strategies with innovation to help develop and implement sound public health policies, manage programs efficiently, strengthen data systems, conduct research, and design strategic communication campaigns for policy and behavior change. To find out more, please visit vstrategystage.wpengine.com or Twitter @VitalStrat.
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