Safety City, a model city located behind Bates Elementary School on Bardstown Road, celebrated its grand opening in 1993. For more than a decade, classes of second and third grade students have visited Safety City for a full day of lessons in bicycle, pedestrian, school bus, stranger danger and traffic safety. Classes are taught by an officer and a civilian employee of the Louisville Metro Police Department. After completing the workbook curriculum, the children spend the second half of the day in hands-on powered mini cars through Safety City, which features a miniature hospital, bank, library, fire station, city hall and other buildings, a railroad crossing, a school bus, working traffic lights and stop signs.
Safety City is an educational program aimed at helping children learn and practice the skills and knowledge necessary to avoid preventable injuries. Preventable injuries are the leading cause of death among children and adolescents under age 15. In fact, more children die annually from preventable injuries than from all childhood diseases combined. Many of these injuries could be prevented if children were instructed to be aware of common dangers.
The curriculum for Safety City was developed in collaboration with the Jefferson County Public Schools Curriculum and Assessment Department, the Children's Hospital Foundation Office of Child Advocacy and the Louisville Metro Police Department. The lessons are based on training methods that have proven to be effective in changing behavior:
- Modeling and positive reinforcement
- Training in the real traffic environment
- Instruction appropriate to the development level of the children
The Safety Lessons include:
- Learning and knowing personal information, such as phone number and address
- Railroad safety
- Using 911 in case of an emergency
- Bus safety
- Seat belt and / or booster seat use
- Pedestrian safety - including looking both ways & over the shoulder before crossing
- Fire safety
- Bicycle safety, including helmet use
- Stranger danger
- Gun safety