Ahead of the 2nd Global High Level Conference on Road Safety which opens on 18 November, Brasilia schoolchildren came together to form a giant ‘500’, representing the number of children killed every single day on roads worldwide.

This action took place as part of the #SaveKidsLives campaign which has been calling for life saving measures to be put in place to combat what is an entirely preventable epidemic.

The FIA Foundation-supported campaign recently reached the one million signatures landmark for its Child Declaration for Road Safety, the priorities of which include:

• to demand investment in a ‘Safe System’ approach to road safety, including managing vehicle speed through road design and traffic calming, awareness raising and speed enforcement;
• to make pedestrian safety a priority, to provide safe pavements and crossing points, and a safe route to school.
• to take action to tackle drink driving; to ensure school bus transportation is safe and has seat belts; to ensure that vehicles are safe for children with appropriate child restraints; and to promote seat-belt and motorcycle helmet use particularly where motorcycles are the main means of family transport.

The schoolchildren will also be handing the #SaveKidsLives ‘Child Declaration’ to policy-makers during the Global High Level Conference on Road Safety, as a reminder of the commitments that have been made and the recently adopted UN Sustainable Development Goal of halving road deaths worldwide by 2020.

The “Save Kids Lives” film, directed by Luc Besson and produced by the FIA as part of the #SaveKidsLives campaign, has been viewed over 8 million times.

FIA Clubs have also provided their support throughout the campaign, through actions on the ground at local and regional levels. 75 Delegates have made the trip to Brazil to ensure the campaign’s message is met with as much success as possible.

To learn more about the campaign and stay in touch, go to the #SaveKidsLives Facebook page.