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In a bid to give children the world over the opportunity to better understand how trucks operate in traffic, SMT Ghana, has held a Volvo Truck traffic safety course dub: ‘Stop, Look and Wave’.

The programme which is a global initiative by the Volvo Group, international partners of SMT Ghana, involves the application of an easy to understand way of making kids aware of the risks and how best to avoid them.

Children learn how to interact safely with commercial vehicles in traffic. In most traffic situations it is difficult for a driver to detect pedestrians and cyclists who are close to the truck. The training programme therefore focuses on how important it is for children to be attentive and make an eye contact with the truck driver and make him aware of their presence by waving at him before crossing the road.

As the official Distributor of Volvo Construction Equipment, Volvo Trucks and Volvo Penta in Ghana, SMT Ghana is spearheading the campaign in the country as part of its corporate social responsibility.

SMT Ghana team led by Mrs. Hilda Peasah, Marketing Manager and Mr. Jasper Agbakpe, Training Manager who is also a Certified Volvo trainer for SMT Group, last week Friday, were at the Cosmos Schools located at Lapaz-Accra to train the school kids on the ‘Stop, Look and Wave course. Mr. Godfred Sessah-Johnson, Health & Safety Manager of SMT Ghana was also on hand for a practical demonstration on the safe use of roads by pedestrians and cyclists.

It was an exciting learning experience for the kids most of whom were experiencing activities of a real truck for the first time. A demo presentation from Volvo was first showed on how to cross the road safely before they were taken to the field for practical training. They were later presented with educational materials and a participation certificate from the Volvo and the SMT Group.

Speaking to the media, Mrs. Hilda Peasah, informed the ‘Stop, Look and Wave’ campaign was a commitment by SMT Group to ensure the safety of road users as safety was a core value of Volvo. “As the local distributors of the Volvo products we are spearheading the campaign to drive the course and also as part of our corporate social responsibility to reach out to communities with children who are the future leaders our target”.

“We are training the kids on how to cross the road. They are normally thought the ‘stop and look’ method but when trucks are involved you must ‘stop, look and wave’” she said and informed that SMT Ghana was committed to do the programme annually and is therefore open to invitation from any school.

Lead facilitator, Mr. Jasper Agbakpe said the expectation of the training was to have a zero tolerance for accident especially with school kids as road safety is key to the Volvo Group. “We are glad to educate these young ones on the dangers on the roads and most importantly how to go around big trucks when crossing the road. We hope to extend it to more schools to drive the course.

On behalf of the Cosmos Schools, Mr. Mark Rocky Agbakpe, Personal Assistant to the CEO described the ‘Stop, Look and Wave’ programme as a laudable idea as the safety of every school child is important. He informed that the school invests a lot in the safety of its students by engaging traffic wardens at its entrance as such, such programme from SMT Ghana had come at the opportune time to augment their effort. Mr. Agbakpe on behalf of the school thanked SMT Ghana as the only truck dealer that invests a lot in the safety of road users.