 About the Automotive Safety Patch Program
What is the Automotive Safety Patch Program?
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 was 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 could 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 very 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. | 
