BMW sets Guinness World Records

More than 1,300 participants took part in a traffic-conducting lesson initiated by BMW Brilliance Automotive Co Ltd on Friday in Shenyang, Northeast China's Liaoning province, a lesson recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's largest such event.

BMW Brilliance, the joint venture founded by the German automaker giant BMW and Chinese Brilliance Auto, initiated the lesson as an effort to undertake its corporate social responsibility.

Seeing the Guinness World Records attempt as a good opportunity, BMW set up the event to help kids learn more about traffic regulations and inspire schools and parents to pay more attention to the children's traffic safety education, according to the automaker.

"BMW is committed to not only delivering premium products, but also creating a better society and bright future with visionary thinking and innovative actions," said Daniel Schaefer, senior vice-president of technology and manufacturing at BMW Brilliance Automotive Co Ltd at the event in Shenyang.

The participants of the world's largest traffic-conducting lesson were pupils from Chuying Experimental Primary School in Shenyang city, associates at BMW, BMW dealers and BMW owners. During the lesson, six traffic officers taught the participants with traffic conducting gestures, including going straight, stopping and turning left. After the 30-minute session, all the participants conducted the traffic gestures in uniform manner. And the adjudicator from Guinness World Records announced that the world's largest traffic lesson was recognized successfully and presented the official certificate onsite.

The traffic-conducting lesson was promoted by BMW's most long-standing corporate social responsibility program in China - BMW Children's Traffic Safety Education Program.

Launched in 2005, BMW Children's Traffic Safety Education Program has forged itself into one of the automaker's most compelling corporate social responsibility programs.

Using innovative educational approaches including situational teaching, role-play and interactive lessons, the program aims to help children aged 4 to 9 learn more about traffic safety and gradually enhance their self-protection awareness.

This year marks the 15th anniversary of BMW Brilliance. Shenyang, where the world's largest traffic-conducting lesson took place, is the hometown of both BMW Brilliance and BMW Children's Traffic Safety Education Program, Schaefer noted.

He added that creating a new record recognized by Guinness World Records in Shenyang is also a gift for this beautiful city.

His words were echoed by Shang Chengfan, deputy director at the Traffic Management Bureau of Public Security Department of Liaoning province. "We are pleased to see that BMW, as a pioneer of the outstanding companies, is making breakthroughs to innovate children's traffic safety education," Shang said at the world's largest traffic-conducting lesson.

As more and more cars run on the roads and the urban traffic becomes more complex, children's traffic safety education becomes increasingly urgent and complicated, according to Shang.

BMW confirmed that this attempt was not the end but the beginning of its efforts to offer more solutions to meet the changing social needs.

Early this year, BMW Children's Traffic Safety Education Program strongly promoted its voluntary service program - BMW Children's Traffic Safety Ambassador - as a follow-up commitment to enhance children's traffic safety education.

After receiving professional training, the volunteers, consisting of BMW associates, dealers and car owners, head to communities, kindergartens and schools to impart professional knowledge of children traffic safety to children and their parents. As of now, nearly 70,000 kids from about 200 schools have received BMW's traffic safety training.

zhangdandan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 09/25/2018 page15)