LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Safety City, a model city located behind Bates Elementary School on Bardstown Road, celebrated its grand opening in 1993.

Safety City kicked off the new school year with the completion of a facelift (new asphalt and paint and updated buildings and structures).

A $50,000 grant from the Children's Hospital Foundation made renovations possible.

For more than two decades, classes of second-grade students from private, public, parochial and home school programs have visited Safety City.

To date, more than 115,100 students have experienced a full day of lessons in bicycle, pedestrian, school bus, stranger-danger and traffic safety while visiting Safety City.

Classes are taught by retired police officers and staff from the Children's Hospital Foundation Office of Child Advocacy of Kosair Children's Hospital.

After completing the workbook curriculum, the children spend the second half of the day in hands-on lessons as they operate battery-powered mini cars through Safety City, which features a miniature hospital, bank, library, fire station, city hall and other buildings, as well as a railroad crossing, a school bus, working traffic lights and stop signs.

Safety City is an educational program aimed at helping children learn and practice the skills and knowledge necessary to avoid preventable injuries.

Injuries are the leading cause of death among children and adolescents under age 15.

In fact, more children die annually from preventable injuries than from all childhood diseases combined.

Many of these injuries could be prevented if children were instructed to be aware of common dangers.

Click here to learn more about Safety City.

    

Copyright 2015 WDRB News. All Rights Reserved.