Accident and Injury Prevention
In 2024, AgriLife Extension Family and Community Health educators and volunteers conducted 1,876 educational events resulting in 95,323 direct contacts. Combined with promotional events and newsletters, 105,922 total contacts were made through programs that seek to improve community safety by preventing injuries and accidental deaths. The following programs illustrate the potentially lifesaving work being done across the state of Texas.
Passenger Safety and KidSafe Initiatives
The Passenger Safety and KidSafe Initiatives project is the largest statewide occupant protection program in Texas, providing education and resources on occupant protection, child passenger safety, distracted driving and speeding, and overall safety in and around vehicles. In FY 2024, Passenger Safety and KidSafe delivered over 800 educational programs reaching 39,437 participants, including parents and caregivers, pre-K to 12th grade students, law enforcement employees, medical personnel, municipal courts, and first responders. Over 3,500 car seat inspections were conducted and 2,760 child safety seats were distributed to families in need. The economic benefit of the proper use of child safety seats for the FY 2024 participants is estimated at $7.0 million.
I am very grateful for the car seat I received and the education on how to use it. I was just in a serious crash and it saved my little boy’s life!”
I am so glad I stopped at the event today. I thought I was doing everything right but I wasn’t. I feel like my kids are safe now and I know now how to do things the right way. I don’t want to think about what could have happened if we had been in a crash the way they were before the event.”
Watch UR BAC
AgriLife Extension’s Watch UR BAC project focuses on youth alcohol and impairment traffic safety education for audiences ranging from sixth grade to age 25. Alcohol and other drug impairment education is presented in a variety of settings with age-appropriate information to promote safe, healthy choices and bring greater awareness to the unfortunate consequences of poor decisions. In FY 2024, the Watch UR BAC team conducted over 400 educational events reaching a total of 53,511 participants.
I will apply this information not only to my life but to the lives of others. I want to be the person that saves a loved one’s life even if it is uncomfortable or scary to do so.”
Silver Drivers, Safe Texans
AgriLife Extension’s Silver Drivers, Safe Texans project focuses on traffic safety for at-risk road users such as older drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians. Older drivers are staying on the road far longer than ever before and are faced with ever-evolving technological advances in vehicles and changes in their bodies as they age, which create unique risks. Slower reaction time, changes in vision and hearing, physical and cognitive limitations, medications, and higher likelihood of injury in a crash all put older drivers in a higher risk category. In FY 2024, Silver Drivers, Safe Texans conducted over 200 educational events reaching more than 16,900 participants.
