Students in Kelly Kroynovich's third-grade class were treated to a special program March 19 when township police officer Courtney Perkins and Chief Todd Coonce presented a program on using vehicle safety belts.
The program, called "Click It to be Cool,'' also taught children the basics of air bags and the proper rules to follow as passengers.
''If you're under 13 years old, the back is where it's at,'' the officers told students.
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Special to Hubbard Community News
Hubbard Township officers along with third grade teacher Kelly Kroynovich and her class at St. Patrick’s school pose for the camera after participating in a safety demonstration. Geared toward third-graders, the program offered by the township police department incorporates games and puzzles along with video demonstrations to convince children the importance of wearing safety belts while riding in cars.
Coonce emphasized the need for seat belts when he told students about a serious auto accident that involved a township officer. The officer, who was wearing his seat belt, wasn't injured, Coonce said, but the occupants in the other vehicle suffered injuries and they weren't wearing seat belts, he said.
Included in the program was a video with popular television teacher, Bill Nye the Science Guy. In the video, Nye explained how a car's safety belts and airbags work. Students also learned the safest place for them to ride is in the backseat.
Coonce and Perkins also demonstrated what could happen to a passenger in a vehicle who was not wearing safety belts using an egg and a toy truck. The egg was secured in the seat of the truck, which then traveled down a makeshift hill hitting a barrier at the bottom. Because the egg was secured in its seat, it wasn't damaged by the crash, however, officers then repeated the demonstration without belting the egg. In that case, the egg flew out of the truck and broke.
Each child also received a workbook with safety information and took a pledge to wear their seatbelts.