The Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) will host a free, family-friendly, student-led “Safety Day” event from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 10 at the Carver Educational Services Center (CESC) in Rockville. The CESC is located at 850 Hungerford Drive in Rockville. The fair will highlight driver, bike and pedestrian safety with interactive and educational experiences including safety demonstrations, games and hands-on activities for all ages.  

Safety Day will be organized and staffed by local high school students participating in the County’s Vision Zero Youth Ambassador program.  

“As a former teacher, I know firsthand that peer-to-peer messaging works,” said Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich. “The Vision Zero Youth Ambassadors will host interactive activities showing families how helmets and seatbelts work, and the consequences of not using them. Having these students running demonstrations is more effective than adults could ever be in convincing our youth to make smart and potentially life-saving decisions. It’s encouraging to see our young people get involved and want to spread awareness about an important topic like traffic safety.”     

County high school students apply annually and are competitively selected to be youth ambassadors for a four-month program. The program’s goal is to equip young adults to be the next generation of traffic safety leaders. Ambassadors who complete the program gain extensive knowledge about the County’s Vision Zero initiative, meet County leaders and earn up to 35 Student Service-Learning Hours. The event is for all ages, from seasoned cyclists to school-aged children and will feature unique and fun interactive activities for the whole family, including:   

• Traffic Garden: Young children can enjoy the interactive traffic garden, a safe zone to try biking through miniature streets and learn how to navigate crosswalks and other traffic-related situations safely.    

• Passports:  Attendees can receive a prize after visiting vendors and completing the activities in the Safety Day Passport.  Passports will be given out at check-in.   

• Bike Raffle:  Children in grades K-5, can enter a raffle to win a new bike. Five bikes will be given away in the raffle.   

• Interactive Activities: Attendees can visit interactive demonstrations and games, including a bike helmet melon drop, as well as a new Spot the Bad Driver game where participants identify driving behaviors and learn more about safe driving.  

• Entertainment: Music, food trucks and an appearance by MCDOT’s Zeal the Safety Zebra mascot.  

“Public education events such as these play an important role in effort to improve pedestrian safety,” said MCDOT Director Chris Conklin. “These creative students do a great job making this free event a fun and exciting way to learn about preventative measures for very real issues in our community. These activities have a big impact on how children view safety and build on lifelong lessons.”   

The event is cosponsored by MCDOT, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) and Montgomery County Recreation.  

“Safety is one of our top priorities at Montgomery County Public Schools,” said MCPS Superintendent Dr. Thomas Taylor. “Pedestrian safety is a shared responsibility in our community, and I’m excited to see our students leading by example and showing their peers smart, safe ways to get to school.”