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NINH BINH, Vietnam - The Asia Injury Prevention (AIP) Foundation and The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] marked the AIP Foundation's Helmets for Kids road safety awareness program on March 4 with a ceremony honoring The Boeing Company's donation of 350 motorbike helmets to Hoi Ninh Primary School students.

Along with the helmets, the students also received lessons on the proper way to wear them, prepared by Hoi Ninh Primary School teachers. Gide Loyrette Nouel (GLN) and Vietnam-GM Daewoo Company (VIDAMCO) also donated funds that were used to help with the ceremony, and post-ceremony activities (training, non-class activities and monitoring).

Stan Deal, vice president of Sales for Asia-Pacific, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said the motorbike helmets donation goes hand-in-hand with the people of Vietnam's growing motorbike safety awareness program. And that is something Boeing employees can identify with.

"As builders of commercial jetliners, Boeing employees know a thing or two about transportation safety," Deal said. "We are proud to partner with Hoi Ninh Primary School during the AIP Foundation's Helmets for Kids celebration. By working together, we believe the motorbike helmets should go a long way in protecting young lives."

Boeing also stepped up donations in 2006 and helped to double the capacity of Hoi Ninh Primary School by adding six new classrooms, new restrooms and a building that houses administration, medical and library facilities.

The AIP Foundation has distributed more than 400,000 child helmets to primary schools throughout Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia through Helmets for Kids -an innovative initiative that combines a traffic-safety curriculum with helmet dissemination to increase knowledge and raise child helmet-use rates.

"AIP Foundation's track record of improving traffic safety in Vietnam, both at the policy level and on the streets, convinced us to sign on for its current round of education activities," said Anne Delérable, Country Director from GLN.

Vietnam's current helmet law does not require the protective headwear for children under 14 years old and only calls for drivers of children under 16 without helmets to receive a warning, not a fine. The AIP Foundation is advocating for a stricter law, while working to improve child and parental awareness about the need for helmet use by children.

"Many parents believe wearing helmets actually poses a risk to children, but the real risk comes from that misinformation and legislation that doesn't punish drivers with unhelmeted youngsters, said Kim Jung In, General Director from Vidamco.

"Through Helmets For Kids, and with the effective support from these sponsors, the AIP Foundation wants to send a strong message to the community that parents need to put helmets on their children," said Mirjam Sidik, executive director of the AIP Foundation. "It is the only vaccine that protects your child against head injuries."