SafeBoda, the boda-hailing company, and Vivo Energy Uganda, the company that distributes and markets Shell-branded fuels and lubricants in Uganda, have partnered to launch a school’s road safety initiative named ‘Heads Up’, promoting the use of child-specific safety helmets, especially among school-going children.
The ‘Heads Up!’ campaign is a behavioural change move that seeks to highlight the plight of children using public motorcycle transportation, commonly referred to as ‘boda bodas’, for their daily commute to and from school, without the recommended safety protection.
According to Vivo Energy Uganda Corporate Communications Manager, Valery Okecho, the campaign is in line with the company’s Schools Road Safety program that seeks to introduce and promote the mandatory use of child-specific helmets to school heads and parents for school going children using boda bodas.
“We found the perfect partner in SafeBoda, who have demonstrated best practices in road safety for their riders and passengers including availing helmets. With mutual interest in road safety, our synergies will now seek to extend this concept to children using boda bodas.”
SafeBoda co-founder Ricky Rapa Thompson expressed his excitement to partner with Vivo Energy to improve road safety of children, through increasing awareness and improving access to life-saving helmets.
“We call upon the general public to embrace this campaign and work with us towards making our roads safer for all.”
In its first phase, the Heads Up campaign will be rolled out to 12 public schools located in high traffic areas of Kampala district, and child helmets will be donated to the school management who will distribute and manage their use among their pupils who use motorcycle transportation to attend school.
The helmets will also be available for purchase at Shell service stations at discounted rates for the public.
This is not the first time that SafeBoda and Vivo Energy Uganda are partnering. Recently, another partnership that allows riders to refuel their bikes at Shell service stations was launched.
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