Pharrell Williams calls drivers to put their phones down as part of #3500Lives Global Road safety Campaign
Celebrities have a major influence over the population, notably their young fans. Which is always great news when a celebrity decided to use this influence to save people’s lives!
Lately, singer and song-writer Pharrell Williams joined other celebrities such as actress and producer Michelle Yeoh, tennis champion Rafael Nadal and many others, to support the new global road safety campaign #3500LIVES launched by the Federation International d’Automobile (FIA).
With distracted driving being an extremely widespread and dangerous - not to mention annoying! - practice, Happy’ singer is supporting the “don’t text and drive rule” to call people to put their phones down and focus on the road.
Featuring the hashtag #3500Lives, the campaign highlights that 3500 people die in car crashes worldwide daily. This equates to 1.25 million per year, most of whom are young people aged 15 to 29.
"This is an alarming trend, a plague that needs to be stopped, a human, economic and social cost which has become unacceptable." states the campaign challenge on the FIA website.
The campaign underlines the role that every road user can play to improve road safety. It encourages all individuals to sign a 10-point manifesto calling governments to make road safety a priority and introduce effective legislation on key risk facts on the road.
The manifesto calls for:
1. Ambitious targets,
2. Improved infrastructure,
3. Safer vehicles,
4. More effective laws,
5. Speed control,
6. Stop drunk-driving,
7. Improved data collection,
8. Significant global funding for safer roads,
9. Private sector support
10. Increase coordinated action.
Other famous ambassadors supporting this campaign include three-time MotoGP World Champion, Marc Marquez, Formula One drivers Fernando Alonso, Mayor of Paris and Chair of C40 Anne Hidalgo and Long Distance running Olympics and World Champion, Haile Gebreselassie.
