Mercedes-Benz works for children’s traffic safety

Mercedes-Benz Korea has continued to raise funds and run programs for social contributions through its Corporate Social Responsibility Committee since 2014.

In March, the Korean arm of the German automaker raised 1 billion won to help residents in eastern coastal regions affected by forest fires.

In 2020, the company raised 1.8 billion won to help medical staff and those vulnerable to COVID-19.

Since its launch eight years ago, Mercedes-Benz CSR Committee has raised a total of 35 billion won in donations, the largest for an import carmaker here.

The committee also runs MobileKids, a traffic safety education program developed by the carmaker’s German headquarters in 2001 and introduced here based on Korean traffic rules in 2014 for underprivileged children who get relatively restricted educational opportunities.

Some 1.6 million children in 13 countries have participated in MobileKids.

Since 2017, the committee has led a “Play the Safety” campaign that helps children learn and practice traffic safety through activities including poster drawing contests.

The CSR committee has also signed an agreement with the Green Mothers Association to work together to prevent traffic accidents in school zones, and has delivered 2,000 traffic safety flags to elementary schools and the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in March.

The Green Mothers Association mobilizes parents of schoolchildren to volunteer as traffic safety guides in school zones.

The CSR committee has also offered educational contents such as traffic safety coloring and mobility storybooks through its online educational platform called Mercedes-Benz MobileKids Play the Safety, and gave out 14,000 board games on traffic safety.

It is also running an environmental education program called Green+Kids to help young children understand the dangers of climate change and learn about the importance of carbon neutrality.

By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldcorp.com)