For many youngsters, it’s their first time in a classroom setting, their first time riding a school bus and their first time seeing a fire house when each class tours Middletown’s fire station.
Salm, 36, is only the third overseer of the program in its 34 years of existence, following Harvey Poff, a former juvenile officer with the Middletown police, and Mike Davis, a fellow school resource officer who held the post for 26 years.
Salm worked with Davis last summer. This year, the gig is all his.
“I never wanted to fill (Davis’) shoes — that’s impossible,” Salm said. “I just wanted to continue making the footprints he started.”
At Safety Town, kids take the wheel of Rolls Royce pedal cars, steering around a miniature town set up in Amanda Elementary School’s gymnasium. It’s the program’s hallmark attraction.
Salm admits when kids first get behind the wheel, “chaos” ensues.
“I like to ride in the cars,” said Tristan Isbell, 4. “We’re ready to rock.”
Salm’s predecessor knows the territory.
“I’m sure he struggled a little bit in the first week ... it happened to me too,” Davis said. “He’ll be fine with it ... it’s a great time to teach them the things we teach.”
Over the past three decades, the program has educated thousands of children about the importance of pedestrian safety and best practices while riding and playing near vehicles.
There were 4,092 pedestrian fatalities in 2009, and the 14-and-younger age group accounted for 244, or 6 percent of them, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
About one-fifth (19 percent) of the traffic fatalities in the 14-and-younger age group were pedestrians.
Last summer, Salm estimated that Safety Town served about 300 area children. Spaces are still available this summer, said Kristy Duritsch, executive director of the Safety Council of Southwest Ohio.
To register for Safety Town, call the Safety Council at (513) 423-9758.
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2871 or asedlak@coxohio.com.
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