(Photo: Swedish Embassy in Vietnam)

The campaign kicked off at Trung Yen Primary School with the donation of 400 helmets to students attending Trung Yen Primary and Yen Hoa Secondary School. The event, combining education with engagement, featured safety demonstrations, and a traffic safety quiz designed to create a lifelong habit in young commuters.

“It's the whole combination. There's not one thing that can fix it. You have to have the laws, you have to have the technology, but also, you have to have the environment where you discuss and ensure that we take care of each other, like we're doing today to educate the children on the need to wear a helmet, but also to ensure that the parents understand the need for helmets for their children. So I think everyone needs to play a role,” said Swedish Ambassador to Vietnam Johan Ndisi.

Representatives of the Swedish Embassy present helmets to Hanoi students. (Photo: Swedish Embassy in Vietnam)

The campaign was inspired by Sweden’s Vision Zero policy, a strategy introduced in 1997 predicated on the belief that no loss of life in traffic is acceptable. By focusing on safer infrastructure, strict enforcement, and public awareness, Sweden’s roads are now among the safest in the world.

The urgency of the campaign is underscored by sobering statistics. Last year alone, Vietnam recorded more than 23,500 traffic accidents that resulted in almost 11,000 deaths.