South by Southwest is a conference and music festival that brings together experts from diverse backgrounds to foster innovation. Our friends at the FIA Foundation have applied to speak at the event. The proposed presentation is about the importance of safe, sustainable, child-friendly cities, reflecting the global work of our Child Health Initiative. We call on our youth network to log in and vote for the initiative.

Kids Before Cars: Safe, Sustainable Urbanization

Safe, healthy cities start with safe, healthy streets. In an increasingly urbanized and motorized world, prioritizing people over cars, and children over high speeds saves lives and money. Cities that are safe for children are safe for everyone – but right now road traffic injuries are the leading killer of adolescents worldwide. Unsafe roads prevent access to education, healthcare and economic opportunities that can lift families out poverty. The health, economic, and social consequences are dire. Roads are the veins through which the health of our society flows, but we are clogging them with traffic jams.

It does not have to be this way. We can achieve a world with zero road fatalities, creating safe and healthy journeys for all children through data driven, cost-effective choices.

Takeaways from the event

1. Starting with children is not only a proven, practical, apolitical way to make cities safe for everyone, but it is also a moral imperative.
2. Road traffic injuries are the leading killer of adolescents around the world, a public health epidemic with far reaching consequences.
3. Managing speeds through simple, cost-effective measures serves as a ‘vaccination’ against child road traffic injuries and fatalities.

CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR THIS PANEL AT SXSW

As young people ourselves, we are always super aware that we don’t want to be party poopers. There’s nothing more annoying than Buzz Killington entering the party where people are having fun and well…killing people’s buzz! That certainly isn’t our vibe but rather, as road safety ambassadors, role models and champions, it is our duty to observe the state of play; especially when a new trend is just downright stupid and dangerous.

The viral challenge started when social media celebrity, Shiggy posted a video to Instagram showing himself dancing in the street to Drake’s song. The video went viral, and thousands of people, including celebrities, started filming and posting their own homemade music videos.

Singer Ciara and her husband, NFL star Russell Wilson, shot their video in Cape Town, South Africa. Will Smith did his own “In My Feelings” dance on top of a bridge in Budapest. And that’s just a start. A search of the hashtag #InMyFeelingsChallenge on Instagram pulls up over 200,000 posts. People have started posting the ‘fails’ online already, and while they have been tagged as “funny”, there is another serious side to this trend. How long before the challenge claims its first life?

But the challenge soon morphed into something more extreme. Not only are people dancing to “In My Feelings,” but they are jumping out of moving cars and busting a move in the middle of a street. People are trying to top others’ videos, and are getting hurt in the process.

While some people appeared to successfully hop out of a slow-moving car and dance alongside it, others have been injured trying to replicate the stunt. Some people recorded themselves falling out of the moving car. Others danced alongside their cars on a busy street, running the risk of getting hit by oncoming vehicles. A few have even posted videos of themselves getting hit while dancing in the street.

The challenge has promoted some police departments in the U.S. and worldwide to issue warnings. In Methuen, Massachusetts, Police Chief Joseph Solomon called the challenge “super dangerous” and urged people not to try it, CBS Boston reports.

Recently our friends at the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) got into the act and issued a warning against the challenge as well. The NTSB shared a link to its statement via Twitter, saying “We have some thoughts about the #InMyFeelings challenge. #Distraction in any mode is dangerous & can be deadly.”

“In transportation, distraction kills. Drivers and operators in all modes of transportation must keep their hands, eyes, and minds focused on operating their vehicle,” the warning on NTSB’s website says.

We mirror these views. If you’re doing the #InMyFeelings challenge, forget about the moving car. Many celebrities have done the dancing challenge in safe places, like on a stage and not in moving traffic.

As always, we say enjoy your music but stay safe!

READ MORE ABOUT DISTRACTED DRIVING