PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
Greenwood Village, Colorado,
is a small municipality within the Denver metropolitan area and, together
with two larger communities, comprises a high school/fire protection
district of approximately 66,500 residents. Cherry Creek High School,
located within this district, conducted an occupant protection survey
in the vicinity of the high school in August 1998. The results of this
student-initiated survey indicated that more than 89 percent of drivers
and passengers surveyed were unbuckled or improperly restrained in child
safety seats.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
The goal of the Distributive
Education Club of America (DECA) Traffic Safety Project was to increase
safety belt and child safety seat use in Greenwood Village and her sister
communities. Objectives of the project were to:
- Develop a student-centered
and sustained occupant protection program
- Form a partnership with
the local fire department for training and education of student participants
in the project
- Establish an ongoing,
student-sustained traffic safety effort within the high school
STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES
In 1998,
following administration of the student-initiated occupant protection
survey, student members of the Cherry Creek High School chapter of DECA
met with members of the Greenwood Village Fire Department, South Metro
Fire Rescue, to obtain assistance with their idea to develop an occupant
protection program as the organization's service project for the year.
Program particulars were provided by South Metro Fire Rescue. The following
activities were included in the occupant protection effort:
- South Metro
Fire Rescue taught classes in seat belt use and child passenger safety
to the student members of DECA using a modified Buckle Up America!
curriculum and the Child Passenger Safety (CPS) curriculum offered
through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
- Following
successful completion of the classes, DECA student members accompanied
South Metro Fire Rescue on a CPS checkpoint for benefit of the local
Safety Awareness Day. The event was held in the parking lot of a local
franchise of a national home improvement center. During the day, the
trained students assisted fire department staff in conducting 36 CPS
checks, by filling out required paperwork, distributing traffic safety
materials, and caring for the children while fire department personnel
checked the installation of child safety seats
- Encouraged
by the success of their involvement in the Safety Awareness Day activities,
the students resolved to continue their interest in traffic safety
activities. The students developed ongoing traffic safety classes,
lectures, and slide presentations, which they shared with their classmates
throughout the school year, and during the summer months for Drivers
Education classes at the school. In addition, the students continued
to participate with South Metro Fire Rescue in conducting numerous
CPS checkpoints after 1998
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