Japan tastes campaign success

Japanese petition signer

We’ve all heard the advice many times before: don’t drive when you’re tired. When Japan stepped up its Make Roads Safe campaign this year, it wanted to get key messages like this one out to the public, but the problem was how to grab people’s attention.

It may sound unusual, but the answer was in chewing gum. In September, the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) is planning to hold a highway traffic safety fair in corporation with a confectionary company. At the event, sticks of gum will be handed out with the phrase ‘I will fasten my seatbelt in the rear seat’ written on them. Indeed, the gum serves a double purpose as it’s intended to help keep motorists awake while driving.

It’s through both unusual initiatives like this and a series of high profile events, that JAF has managed to get thousands of people to support the campaign. So far, some 57,000 signatures have been collected and have been forwarded to the Make Roads Safe campaign, to be sent on to the UN Secretary General later this year.

Japan has already been an active supporter of Make Roads Safe. Earlier this year, representatives from the campaign - FIA President Max Mosley, FIA Foundation Director General David Ward and JAF President Setsuo Tanaka – held successful meetings with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The Prime Minister confirmed that Japan would consider extending its support for road safety efforts through its official development programmes and its contribution to the World Bank.

The campaign has been extensively promoted through JAF’s 12.8 million circulation magazine, 50,000 Make Roads Safe booklets, 1,000 Make Roads Safe brochures, and 200 posters carrying pictures of Prime Minister Abe, Mosley and Tanaka for distribution at branch offices.

JAF’s website has played a key role with an outline of the campaign and a link to a special page allowing people to sign the petition in Japanese. Hundreds of traffic safety events have been organised and the JAF has also put much effort into persuading other clubs in the region to support the campaign.

The campaign has covered much ground. There has been an emphasis on young road users in particular. They are seen as a high risk group in Japan – with many injured or dying on the country’s roads. However, in order to get the message across, a creative approach has been used. Just like the road safety chewing gum initiative, JAF has looked at new ways to communicate with young people.

It recently launched a volunteer scheme to educate children about road safety through music. Known as the ‘JAF Traffic Safety Do-Re-Mi Group’, volunteers from all over Japan help teach children in nursery schools about the issues.

There will be no let up in the campaign over the coming months. In Osaka at the end of September, JAF and Bridgestone will hold a joint Think Before You Drive promotional event. Through to October, the JAF plans to continue gathering signatures during its road safety events. Also, signatures will be gathered in the upcoming events including Motor Sports Japan from September 23-4 in Tokyo and during the F1 Grand Prix, September 28-30 at Fuji Speedway.

Japan’s Make Roads Safe campaign is at: www.jaf.or.jp/data/MRS_cam

< Back