Cascade Police Department coordinates “Buckle Up” event for students

Over the course of five or six hours last November, Officer Eric Littlejohn of the Cascade Police Department coordinated a “Buckle Up” safety event at the Cascade Junior/Senior High School.  The event featured a simulated crash, and focused on the importance of buckling up.  Hundreds of students of all ages attended the presentation.

The Cascade Police Department partnered with the ITD Office of Highway Safety, the local fire department, emergency medical services, the Buckle Up for Bobby campaign, and Valley County Sheriff’s deputies to demonstrate the consequences of not wearing seat belts. 

The event also included gripping testimony from Duke and Sheri Rogers of the Buckle Up for Bobby campaign, organized in the aftermath of the death of their son Bobby several years ago. He perished in a Boise-area rollover crash while not buckled up.

The crash presentation was given multiple times. The Rogers’ also gave two auditorium presentations. The older students got the graphic and emotionally charged version of the crash and auditorium presentations. Cascade Elementary School students also took part — however, the presentation to them did not contain graphic images of crash “victims.”

“I love to see our partners come together to educate and benefit a community,” said Sherry Jenkins, of ITD’s Office of Highway Safety. Jenkins also said that to learn how to replicate an event like this in your local area, Littlejohn will be part of a panel for youthful driver safety planned for the annual Highway Safety Summit in Pocatello May 5-6, 2015.

“The Cascade Fire Chief, who is also a EMT, expressed the emotional difficulty of responding to a crash and knowing that an occupant wasn’t restrained,” Jenkins recalled. “He could tell when someone wasn’t restrained because of the extent of their injuries. 

“This seemed to have an impact on everyone present at the event,” she added.


Published 02-13-15