Safe Kids Buckle Up and Chevrolet have teamed up with the Boy Scouts of
America to teach Cub Scouts and their parents and caregivers about
safety in and around vehicles. These hands-on educational activities are
conducted by Safe Kids Coalitions and held at Chevrolet dealerships
designed to educate families with older children — ages 7 to 10 — about
being safe inside and outside of moving and parked vehicles. After the
Scouts successfully complete all of the educational stations, they are
presented with their Automotive Safety Patch.
How do the activities work?
First, the scouts are weighed and measured and take a pre-test to
determine how much they know about vehicle safety. Then the scouts and
their families go through a series of educational stations to learn
safety messages tailored to the Cub Scout age group. The entire process
takes between 60 and 90 minutes.
The stations are:
1. Safety Belt Fit Test
Each scout sits in a vehicle and is buckled into a safety belt for
evaluation by a child passenger safety technician. Scouts who do not
meet the height and weight requirements for adult lap and shoulder belts
are shown how booster seats help them fit more safely in the seat belt.
2. Preventing Trunk Entrapment
Scouts are taught that vehicle trunks are designed to carry cargo and
packages and that children should never play in them. Parents and scouts
are taught that newer cars have a “glow-in-the-dark” handle inside that
allows someone who gets locked in the trunk by accident to open the
trunk from the inside. Children should never crawl or sit in the trunk
as part of this station.
3. Spot the Tot
Scouts learn that they should only play in areas where there are no
vehicles; parking lots, driveways and areas where driveways cross
sidewalks are dangerous places to play. Parents and caregivers are
taught to always walk around vehicles and look for children and other
objects before getting in and starting the engine. The Spot the Tot mat
is rolled out behind a vehicle so both children and parents can see
the distance children must be from a vehicle for the driver to see them.
4. Never Leave Your Child Alone
Children and parents are taught that the inside of a car gets hot very
quickly in the summer and babies and young children can get overheated
rapidly. A special thermometer shows adults and children how hot a
car can get on the inside even if the outside temperature is cooler.
5. OnStar
Scouts are taught how, in an emergency, to press the OnStar button in a
General Motors car to reach an operator who will be able to help them.
They learn that they should not be afraid to talk to the operator and
answer any questions.
Once the scouts have successfully completed each station, they take a
post-test and are awarded their Automotive Safety Patch.
Cub Scouts
A Partnership
between Safe Kids Buckle Up, Chevrolet and the Boy Scouts Of
America
