About 10,000 children in Qatar aged five to eight have attended a road safety campaign recently held in Darb Al Saai grounds, the main centre for the National Day celebrations.
The activity was organised by Total E&P Qatar in co-operation with the Traffic department.
“This campaign aims to teach the drivers of tomorrow, who will then act as the traffic police in their families, encouraging them to follow traffic rules to be safe ”, said Yousef al-Jaber, head of CSR and Institutional Relations at Total E&P Qatar.
He noted that the programme will continue in 2015 and in the coming years to reach more children of primary schools around Qatar in the same age category.
Darb Al Saai was chosen to be the venue of the activity because it attracted thousands of visitors to its festivities daily, according to organisers.
Total had set up a classroom and conducted multiple 45-minute sessions every day to teach the children basic road rules to raise their awareness on road safety.
Organisers also produced a road safety cube, containing the major international road signs, to support the implementation of the programme.
The participants received a colouring booklet that explains basic road signs along with a certificate signifying their awareness of basic road safety guidelines.
The campaign is targeting to reach a total of 14,000 children with plans of expanding it in the future.
“It is our responsibility to teach children about road safety, and it is important to do so now so they become responsible drivers at a later age,” said Guillaume Chalmin, managing director of Total E&P Qatar and Group Representative.
Following this campaign, Total will be conducting the courses at schools `to reach a larger audience.
Guillaume Chalmin and Yousef al-Jaber
