A nationwide public awareness campaign is handing out free orange school backpacks to deaf and hearing-impaired students that are intended to signal drivers to slow down, China News reported Monday.
Audiology Development Fund of China (ADFC) launched the project to improve the traffic safety of hearing impaired students as the new school semester begins.
The campaign got an endorsement Sunday from actor Chen Xiaochun on his Sina Weibo account, which called on drivers to slow down whenever they see a student wearing the mentioned bright orange backpacks.
The bag reads "Orange Bookbag" in white letters and come loaded with school supplies and other materials aiming to improve their communication skills, ADFC said.
Complimentary art stationeries including brushes, oil paints, crayons and papers are also in the backpacks in a hope to improve their observation, communication and sensation capabilities, ADFC said.
More than 4.6 million children aged 14 and under in China are hearing impaired, according to recent statistics.
