Press Releases

The Vodafone Portugal Foundation today launched a campaign, in partnership with Do Something , to raise awareness of the risks of using mobile phones and especially of texting while driving, with the aim of motivating young people to think about road safety through fun and educational activities.

Called ‘War on Thumbs’, this is the first campaign of its kind mounted in Portugal and is supported by the National Road Safety Authority, the Institute for Mobility and Land Transport (IMTT) and the Ministry of Education and Science/Directorate-General for Education.

Between 10 and 19 April, various fun and educational initiatives aimed at young people aged from 12 to 18 – future drivers – will be organised in a number of lower secondary and secondary schools in Lisbon, Porto and Coimbra, including the distribution of information and merchandising materials linked to the campaign. At the same time, young people will be invited to develop their own safe driving awareness actions and submit them in a competition on the campaign website at www.guerrapolegares.org . The young people can request campaign materials from this website and download a range of materials to support their entry. The most original entries will receive prizes.

The Vodafone Portugal Foundation has also just launched the ‘Future Driver’ app for Android smartphones (also available shortly for the iPhone). Among other features this provides a simulation of the theory driving tests on the Highway Code, as well as eco-driving, mobile phones and driving, and other matters. This simulator is the first in Portugal to be fully validated by IMTT – the official body responsible for the preparation of these tests at national level.

These initiatives form part of the Vodafone Portugal Foundation’s ‘Safe Driving’ project which aims to raise awareness among drivers and future drivers of the importance of road safety in Portugal.