Automotive Business Review February 2015 | Page 24

road safety

| by Howard Keeg

Keeping Your Toddler Safe in
the Car
On 5 December 2014 Wheel Well
held a media function at their
shop in Brightwater Commons
to celebrate 1 000 days of their
Car Seats for Kids campaign.
aBr was there to celebrate the
occasion.

D

uring the first 1000 days of Car
Seats for Kids 4 143 car seats
were distributed, and this was
made possible with the help of dedicated
and awesome support from:
•

•
•
•

•

•

Wheel Well Board members: Eugene
Herbert, Charmaine van Wyk, Niki
Cronje and Justine Kimberley
Monthly contributors – Cartrack,
SAGMJ and Orange Ink
Vehicle sponsors – Renault SA and
Peugeot
Ongoing support – Imperial, Bakwena,
Triple Orange, Matrix, Binary Means,
MaPa Technologies, Brightwater
Commons, Avis, Bridgestone, Active
Education, and 947
Once off contributors – Dischem
Foundation, VW, Eon Consulting,
Velvet TV, RMI, JMPD, Midas,
Bridgestone, AMH, EuropCar,
Tobasco, Safeway, and Graffiti
Drop off points for Car Seats –
Renault SA, Spur Bryanston, and
MasterDrive

➲ Peggie Mars, at right, with some of her road safety rock stars, left to right; Imperial’s
Niki Cronje; MasterDrive’s Justine Clackworthy; Bakwena’s Charmaine van Wyk; Renault’s
Nontokozo Mokoena; SAGMJ chairman Roger McCleery; and front MasterDrive’s Eugene Herbert

➲ Giving car seats a new lease on life

Peggie Mars, the founder of Wheel Well,
a not for profit organisation, tells aBr that
Wheel Well came into being in June 2012
“to give a solid foundation for the Car Seats
for Kids campaign and to broaden the
scope to include all children in road safety.
Car Crashes remain the largest external
cause of death for our children and it is
imperative that we put the spotlight on
that through raising awareness on issues
around children in and around the vehicle,
educating parents and children and by
pressurising Government to bring the road
traffic act in line with our constitution.”
Peggie’s vision is to “grow awareness,
educate parents, and motivate for changes
in legislation to improve the plight children
in road safety through partnering with
likeminded individuals and corporates.”
When it comes to having a passion for
road safety for children, the planets are all
aligned for Peggie Mars, and whilst reaching
for the stars, she is also down to earth
when discussing this often ignored aspect
of road safety, and it is this passion that will
ensure that road safety for kids stays on the
front burner. She refers to her fellow board
members as Road Safety Rockstars, and
aBr has decided to accept the challenge
from Eugene Herbert to keep the flame alive
in the media, so watch this space.

➲ Peggie Mars is a busy woman. On the very next
day she was at the Northgate Shopping Centre,
distributing car seats for a small donation to the
shoppers. The day was sponsored by Cartrack,
whose staff enthusiastically supported the day

| words in action

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FEBRUARY 2015