ExxonMobil supports traffic safety campaign in the Netherlands
Breda, 17 october 2011 – Karla Peijs, Chairman of Veilig Verkeer Nederland (VVN, a national organization that promotes safe driving in the Netherlands) officially launched the Safe Driving campaign against the use of distracting devices while driving on October 17 2011. The festivities took place at the parking behind the largest Retail Site in the Netherlands: Esso Ruyven. Joost Van Roost, chief executive of ExxonMobil Benelux, explained the importance of the campaign and the support given by ExxonMobil.
In 2010, VVN and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment launched a campaign against the use of “distractions” in traffic. Because of the success of this campaign, it was re-launched in 2011, from October 15 onwards. Distractions are e.g. use of cell phones (even hands free), fiddling with radio or GPS etc. Research shows, that distractions in traffic play a role in almost 80% of all accidents and in 65% of all near-accidents. ExxonMobil introduced a guideline for its Benelux employees in 2004 prohibiting the use of mobile phones or other equipment during business trips. This goes beyond the VVN campaign, hence backing the logic for supporting the campaign.
“ExxonMobil strongly supports the Ministry and VVN in their attempts to reduce accidents caused by distractions and to enhance safety awareness of all road users” said Joost van Roost. "At ExxonMobil, Safety and Operations integrity are the foundations of ExxonMobil’s business. Nothing is more important than performing activities while ensuring the safety of employees and all others involved. Nowadays safety focus is mainly on increasing the safety awareness of employees”.
Safe driving requires the full attention of the driver. Driving while using a mobile phone (hands-free or not) or other communication tools is distracting and may lead to serious accidents. "Thanks to the efforts of the Ministry and VVN we can hopefully prevent accidents." Joost van Roost concluded. "The goal of the campaign fits well with our safety slogan: Nobody gets hurt."
Campaign support at Esso stations
At all Esso stations in the Netherlands, the campaign "Een beetje chauffeur laat zich niet afleiden” is widely brought to the attention of all road users and customers. The campaign signs behind all Dutch Retail sites are sponsored by Esso. Campaign posters at the stations announce the VVN-campaign. In addition, free funny greeting cards modelled like the posters are provided. At the back, ExxonMobil announces its support to the campaign while at the same time it promotes the membership recruitment for VVN. During the campaign period, until mid-December, free WIFI is available on a large number of Esso stations so customers can surf the Internet and can retrieve e-mails.
