Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton have added their voices and support to the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety Campaign.
The McLaren drivers met with British Prime Minister David Cameron at 10 Downing Street to push the initiative, which promotes safety on public roads, just weeks before they themselves will do battle on the streets-cum-racetrack of Monaco.
Button told the BBC that he and his team mate’s aim was to raise awareness of the danger facing road users.
“We need to do as much as we can for road safety – not just in the UK but around the world. So we’re trying to make as many people aware as possible about the action campaign,” he said.
He went on to draw a clear line in the sand between racing and driving on public roads.
“We’re racing drivers, we have our fun on the circuit, but when you are on the road you have to think of others,” he added.
Lewis Hamilton, whose driving misdemeanour in Australia in 2010 resulted in a run-in with the Melbourne police, swatted away concerns that he was not the right man to front such a campaign.
“We’re young, we have experiences that we learn from, we’re only human beings…and we are just aware of the situation – more and more people are dying every year,” he said.
Button finished by adding a personal note and affirming his and Hamilton’s commitment to the cause.
“We’re going to have families in the future, and childhood deaths [on the road] – it’s going to be the main killer,” he argued.
