Michelin pairs up with puppets to promote road safety
Powerful safety message sent to schoolchildren
With safety at the top of its agenda, Michelin has teamed up with a specialist puppeteer to deliver powerful road safety messages to teenagers in a unique and engaging way using lifesize puppets.
After teaming up with Michelin, Steve Wright, Director of The Puppet Broadcast Company, has presented his memorable Theatre in Education show ‘Routes – The Teenage Highway Code’ at 15 schools near the tyre manufacturer’s headquarters in Stoke-on-Trent.
Now, Michelin’s Head of Fleet Sales, Dave Crinson, hopes fleet managers across the UK will want to help roll-out the programme nationwide as part of their company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) work.
“The number of young people being killed or injured on the roads in the UK is frightening,” said Crinson.
“Today, being a passenger in a car is the most common cause of death for females aged between 16 and 24 in the UK.
“And in Staffordshire alone, where we are based, there were more than 1,300 young people injured on roads, including 73 serious injuries and 17 fatalities in just 15 months.
“At Michelin we are always looking to make sure our tyres are as safe as possible, but actually we want to do even more than that. We want to help reduce the number of young people dying on the roads.”
He added: “This puppet show avoids the kinds of shock tactics often used in road safety awareness, and instead focuses on interactive situations using characters that youngsters can easily relate to.”
Puppeteer Wright, who has been working with schools and colleges around Michelin’s factories in Stoke, Ballymena and Dundee, said: “Michelin places safety among its top priorities and it’s great to work with such a reputable company.
“The Michelin Man is great for the youngsters as well so it’s a good combination.
“As public sector funding is being cut, private sector backing is now more important than ever to support schools and colleges, and after the success we have had in Staffordshire, we now have a fantastic opportunity to roll-out the programme nationally.”
At Michelin’s latest Fleet Panel meeting, Wright demonstrated the puppets and explained to the group of industry experts how he talks to over-16s about the importance of individual decision-making and responsibility, the dangers of peer pressure, and positive role models.
Andrew Gullery, Procurement Manager at Leasedrive, said: “A lot of companies talk about CSR yet in reality it’s all too often a tick box exercise. Michelin is demonstrating it’s taking CSR seriously.
“Road safety is a shared responsibility so it makes sense for fleet companies to get involved as it’s relevant to our industry.”
Mark Connor, Operations Director for Zenith, said: “All businesses should look at ways to ensure a positive impact on communities. Helping to reduce accidents amongst teenagers is a great way to be more involved in CSR, particularly for companies who have business drivers. Creating a link between road safety, Michelin and fleet owners is very constructive.”
Chris Joyce, Chief Operating Officer for Fleet Hire, said: “I was surprised that Michelin is so involved in something like this, rather than just through corporate sponsorship. It’s refreshing to see that kind of direct involvement and it really is a fantastic initiative.
If you put yourself in the position of a teenage audience, the puppets are such a good way of delivering the road safety message. It’s been useful for the Fleet Panel to have been made aware of how we can get involved.
Certainly at Fleet Hire we work with our local community and this fits in well with what we already do, but it’s something all fleets could look to be involved with. Anything that promotes road safety should be encouraged.”
Michelin (www.michelin.co.uk)
Dedicated to the improvement of sustainable mobility, Michelin designs, manufactures and sells tyres for every type of vehicle, including aircraft, bicycles, cars, earthmoving machines, farm equipment, trucks and motorcycles. Michelin employs 115,000 people, has sales organisations in more than 170 countries and operates 69 production sites in 18 countries throughout five continents. The Company also publishes travel guides, hotel and restaurant guides, maps and road atlases and offers electronic mobility support services on ViaMichelin.com. Research and development is undertaken in technology centres in Asia, Europe and North America.
For further press information please contact:
Paul Cordle, Michelin Press Office
Tel: 44 (0) 1782 402341 Email: paul-m.cordle@uk.michelin.com
Lucy Harveyor James Keeler at Garnett Keeler PR, Inver House, 37-39 Pound Street, Carshalton, Surrey, SM5 3PG
Tel: 44 (0)20 8647 4467 Fax: 44 (0)20 8544 4711 E-mail: lucy.harvey@garnettkeeler.com
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