CHEF EXPRESS (CREMONINI GROUP) SUPPORTS "VACANZE COI FIOCCHI" (GREAT VACATION), THE NEW CAMPAIGN FOR TRAVELLERS' SAFETY

"Mobile telephone use while driving is a constant danger": those who use a mobile telephone when driving risk causing accidents as much as if they were drunk. The tenth edition of the "Vacanze coi fiocchi" campaign for road safety is concentrated against this dangerous habit. In the campaign for good sense on the road are Piero Angela, Diego Abatantuono and many other personages under the High Patronage of the President of the Republic. Chef Express is amongst the protagonists.

"Speaking on a mobile phone while driving" - states Franco Taggi of the Superior Health Institute, one of the greatest experts on road safety in Italy - "compromises attention to the road and determines the risk of provoking a serious or fatal accident, equal to that run by a driver with a blood/alcohol level of 1 gram/litre, double the legal limit. In practice it is like driving when drunk. Using a mobile phone distracts us, distances are evaluated worse, one reacts less promptly to changes in speed of the vehicle in front, tending to use the rear-view mirror less and the times of perception and reaction to possible danger are lengthened. The dangers are not lessened with the use of ‘hands free' or headphones".

The "Vacanze coi fiocchi" campaign for road safety is concentrated against the use of mobile telephones when driving, with the collaboration of many real and imaginary personages.

"Turn-off the mobile phone, turn-on prudence" is the message of the journalist Massimo Gramellini: those mobilised together with him are Piero Angela, Diego Abatantuono, Enzo Bianchi Priore di Bose, the actors in "Un posto al sole" Patrizio Rispo, Elisa Della Valentina and Maria Giulia Cavalli, the actress Beatrice Luzzi, the comedian Vito and the gymnast champion Vanessa Ferrari; but comic characters are also involved such as Snoopy, Dylan Dog, Diabolik, Luporosso and Martin Mystère. All united to convince drivers to become "a safety ambassador" on the holiday roads. Precisely starting with switching-off their mobile phone in the car.

Despite the risks and the possibility of incurring heavy penalties (a fine and the loss of five points on their driving licence), many drivers irresponsibly break the law and use their mobile telephones while driving: they converse amiably, send or read a sms, consult their diaries and the increasingly advanced mobile telephone applications.

The "Vacanze coi fiocchi" campaign is conducted under the High Patronage of the President of the Republic and will be carried out in many cities: from Trieste to Catanzaro, passing by Bologna, Rome, Naples, Florence, Palermo and Venice. Hundreds of thousand of booklets will be distributed throughout Italy, containing messages from famous personages and cartoons designed by Vauro, Bucchi, Giuliano, Giannelli, Maramotti and Pillinini.

The most significant moment of the campaign will be Saturday 25 July, on the occasion of the largest summer exodus, when representatives of the institutions, personages and volunteers will be at motorway toll booths and in the piazzas of many cities to distribute the campaign booklets, and wish those travelling to the cities of art, the sea or mountains, a good trip.

With over 600 participants throughout Italy between institutions, motorway companies, health organisations, radio and television, "Vacanze coi fiocchi" is the most supported road safety campaign in Italy. Messages will also be broadcast for free by two hundred radio stations that will transmit over 20,000 spots recorded by Piero Angela, Margherita Hack, Carlo Petrini of Slow Food, Beppe Carletti of "I Nomadi" and the comedian Vito.

Chef Express is amongst the protagonists of the campaign. It is being promoted nationally by the Bologna Centre for Environmental Communication and Studies) with the collaboration of the Emilia-Romagna Region Observatory for Road Education and Safety.

Centro Antartide, tel. 051-260921; info@vacanzecoifiocchi.it

All the information on the campaign is available on the site www.vacanzecoifiocchi.it.

Chef Express - Motorway Division manages 38 service areas and is one of the principal Italian operators in motorway catering.

Cremonini, with over 9,500 employees, of whom over 5,000 are in the catering sector, is one of the largest food groups in Europe and operates in three business areas: production, distribution and catering.
The Group, which had total revenues of 2,212.1 million Euro in 2008, is the absolute leader in Italy in the production of beef and meat-based transformed products (Inalca JBS and Montana) and the marketing and distribution of food products to the food service sector (MARR). It also has a significant presence in the catering sector with the Chef Express brand (catering on-board trains, in railway stations and motorway service areas), and Roadhouse Grill (steak house chain).

Castelvetro di Modena, 14 july 2009

Contacts:
Luca Macario
Cremonini Group Press Office
luca.macario@cremonini.com
Tel.: 059 754630