Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt urged parents taking their kids to schools on motorcycles to ensure they and their children wear helmets to reduce casualties from road accidents.

He made the comment while speaking at an event to raise public awareness about road safety at Suan Lumphini School in Pathum Wan district on Thursday. The school provided special gifts to parents and children who arrived on motorcycles with both parents and children wearing helmets.

“Both parents and children should wear a helmet whenever they use a motorbike. The number one cause of death from road accidents is riders and passengers not wearing helmets,” the governor said. “The city can only do so much to promote road safety, such as improving road quality and providing street lighting, but everyone must also ensure their own safety by wearing helmets and obeying traffic laws.”

Chadchart said parents should set a good example for their children by wearing helmets whenever they are riding motorcycles. This will help reinforce the habit among youths so that they can grow up to be safety-conscious.

Chadchart also expressed hope that more schools in Bangkok will host safety-awareness events. The project is in line with his “9 Dan 9 Dee” (“9 Excellences in 9 Areas”) policy to improve people’s safety and their quality of life with medical treatment, education, vocational training, and other services.

Under this policy, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has also provided 100,000 helmets to schools in the city.