Teaching car passenger safety to preschool children

An educational curriculum entitled "Bucklebear" was designed to increase safety seat and seat belt use in young children enrolled in preschool programs (day care centers and nursery schools). Three basic concepts were emphasized: (1) "buckling up" is a good habit for everyone for every ride; (2) the back seat is the best seat; and (3) there are desirable passenger behaviors. The curriculum included training workshops with teachers, parent meetings, classroom lessons, sound filmstrip, puppet play, and many other activities. Six experimental programs and seven control programs with 402 and 427 enrolled children, respectively, participated. After their participation in the educational curriculum, children in the experimental program increased their use of a safety seat or seat belt from 21.9% to 44.3%. These children also increased their knowledge and simulated practice of car passenger safety.