Project ‘Safety on the Road – Life is a journey, let’s make it safer’ – Interview with Dr. Silvia Brufani, HR Director of Bridgestone Europe

The project ‘Safety on the road – Life is a journey, let’s make it safer’ is launched

As promised in the first part of the report dedicated to the project “Safety on the road – Life is a journey, let’s make it safer”, after telling you the Italian Red Cross‘ point of view on the initiative, we also asked Dr. Silvia Brufani, HR Director of Bridgestone Europe, some questions on the subject.

Silvia was very helpful with us and it is with great pleasure that we report the dialogue we had with her.

The interview

How did the collaboration between Bridgestone and the Red Cross develop for this road safety project?

The collaboration stems from the desire to carry out a road safety project on a national scale, involving the three Bridgestone sites in Italy: the technology centre in Rome, the sales division in Vimercate and the production plant in Bari. In line with our Bridgestone E8 Commitment, and in general with our company’s global commitment to create value for society and contribute to a safer, sustainable and more inclusive world, for the benefit of new generations. With this objective in mind, the partnership with the Italian Red Cross, the largest voluntary association with a strong capillarity in the Italian territory and with a great experience in the field of prevention, seemed to us to be the fulcrum to realise a project of this magnitude.

What is Bridgestone’s main objective in this road safety project?

Bridgestone aims to contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goal of halving road deaths by 2030. This is a moral obligation that is ingrained in Bridgestone’s DNA and is embodied most clearly in our corporate mission statement: “Serving society with superior quality”. Serving Society with Superior Quality

Why did you choose to focus this project on the road safety of middle and high school children?

In designing the project together with the CRI, we started from the data on accidents in our peninsula, which show that the 15-29 age group is the most affected by fatal accidents, which are mainly caused by speed, disregard for road rules, and driving distractions. In the light of this, it seemed a priority to intervene on road safety education and prevention in the most affected group and in young people who are beginning to approach driving motorbikes, city cars and cars.

What strategies and programmes have you implemented in schools to educate young people about road safety?

The main strategy stems from the possibility that the Italian Red Cross has of involving a large number of young volunteers throughout the country. So the fundamental lever for reaching the 13 to 18/20 age group is peer to peer education: young people talking to young people, increasing the effectiveness of the message. Using this privileged communication channel, we want to contribute to road safety education and prevention by reaching young people at different times of their lives: during the summer break with the ‘Green Camps’, in schools with educational courses, and in places of aggregation with an awareness campaign in the squares.

How will this project contribute to raising awareness of road safety and training a generation of more responsible drivers?

The project’s contribution is well described in its title Safety on the Road – life is a journey let’s make it safer. This effort runs along four main tracks that we have identified together with the Italian Red Cross: road safety education, prevention of risky behaviour, intervention in the event of an accident and first aid, and vehicle maintenance where the tyre plays a key role. Through recreational activities flanked by moments of in-depth study, we want to contribute to spreading a culture of road safety.

What is Bridgestone’s role in providing resources and support for the project?

Bridgestone’s contribution to this project takes various forms: providing the resources needed to carry out all the planned activities, contributing to the preparation of the toolkits for the Green Camps and for the campaign in schools, participating in the training of CRI volunteers who will bring the programme to life in the field, and leveraging the company’s policy that allows each Bridgestone employee to spend 8 hours a year in voluntary work, participating in CRI activities related to the project as a volunteer

The main concept is encapsulated in this phrase “Tyres carry lives”.

How do you see the collaboration between Bridgestone and the Red Cross evolving in the future to meet further challenges in road safety?

The project has only just got under way but we are already thinking together about how to continue and evolve this partnership, the how is a bit premature to share but it is quite clear that Bridgestone’s global strategy attaches great importance to solid and lasting programmes.

As Emergency Live, at this point, we can only praise this splendid initiative and thank Dr. Edoardo Italia and Dr. Silvia Brufani for their availability, in the certainty of having pointed out something very important to our readers.