The slate of activities leading up to Thursday’s first day of school got off to a good start Saturday with the second annual Buckaroo Bash.
The event was hosted by the Breckenridge Independent School District’s School Health Advisory Council at First United Methodist Church’s Christian Life Center. Students of all ages were on hand to play games, join organizations and pick up giveaways from the various vendors that had booths set up.
In one corner, kids could get haircuts, and there were opportunities to meet Sheriff Will Holt, Justin Rose with the Breckenridge Police Department and members of the local EMS team.
“We have more vendors this year, and there’s been a steady flow of people coming through,” said Molly Johnson, BISD’s director of curriculum and instruction. “We’ll keep doing this, going into the future.”
The Texas AgriLife Extension Service provided a safe driving program, including a demonstration of what happens in a vehicle as it rolls over in a crash. Mike Guidry, coordinator of the passenger safety program for Texas A&M University’s AgriLife Extension Service, showed the crowd gathered outside the Buckaroo Bash how to properly wear a seatbelt and explained why rollovers tend to happen more often with pickup trucks.
“Pickups roll over much easier than a car would,” he said, asking the audience if they knew why that happens. When one of the kids called out the correct answer, Guidry continued, “Top heavy! That’s the number one answer right there. Because of that, even at a slow roll, where a car might tip over on its side, a truck is going to continue to roll, even at a slow speed.”
To illustrate the dangers of a roll over, as well as the benefit of wearing a seat belt, Guidry had a pickup cab on a trailer hooked up to equipment to that rotated the cab over and over, simulating a roll-over crash. Inside the cab were dummies representing an adult driver and a kid in a booster seat. To show what happens during a roll-over, he unbuckled the seat belt of the adult driver dummy. As the truck rolled over again and again, the “driver” was flung around the cab, hitting the “child” before being partially thrown out of the window. As the truck continued to roll over with the dummy partway out of the window, the demonstration showed how the driver would have been slammed into the ground and crushed by the vehicle.
Guidry emphasized to everyone watching the importance of wearing a properly fitting seat belt that includes both a lap belt positioned across the hip bones and a shoulder belt that does not hit the person in the neck or face. Children under the age of 8, by law, must use a safety seat unless they are taller than 4 feet 9 inches. For the safest option, it is recommended that children use a booster seat until the adult seat belt fits properly, no matter how old or tall they are.
After the demonstration, Guidry invited attendees to pick up more information about driver and passenger safety. Those who missed the demonstration may contact local AgriLife Extension agent Sumer Russell at 254-559-5513 for more information.
Story by Carla McKeown
carla.mckeown@breckenridgetexan.com
Cutlines:
Top photo: Stephens County Sheriff Will Holt hands out safety information to a family at Saturday’s Buckaroo Bash. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
Bottom photo: Mike Guidry and his daughter, Alyssa, 8, demonstrate the proper way to wear a lap belt at the Buckaroo Bash. Guidry is coordinator of the passenger safety program for Texas A&M University’s AgriLife Extension Service in College Station. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
