Children’s Safety Clubs

This countermeasure involves sponsoring safety clubs in which caregivers can enroll their children as young as age 3. Children then regularly receive books or other print or electronic media that provide instruction to both the child and caregivers about safe walking practices. A primary purpose of children’s safety clubs is to help caregivers become more involved in educating young children about safe walking practices. An equally important objective of safety clubs is for caregivers to recognize children’s limits and capabilities, and to understand their obligation to provide adequate supervision and control (Gregersen & Nolen, 1994). Safety clubs are more common in Europe and have not been adopted broadly in the United States.

This countermeasure has been examined in a small number of research studies. It is up to caregivers of young children to use material appropriately and a lack of control makes it difficult to monitor or assess results. The research suggests that this countermeasure does not translate into crash and injury reductions (Dragutinovic & Twisk, 2006; Gregersen & Nolen, 1994; West et al., 1993).