Posted: May 25, 2008, 5 a.m. EDT
First came several books, then a trading card. Now Buck “The Buckle-up Dog” has a high-profile ally in his campaign to get kids to wear seat belts: New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, who was badly injured in an auto accident last year when he wasn’t wearing his seat belt.
“I should have met Buck a year ago,” lamented the governor to an audience of 15 first-graders at Rieck Avenue School in Millville, N.J during a recent appearance with the 4-year-old, 115-pound Doberman Pinscher, NJ.com reports. “Wearing a seat belt is really a big deal. I know because I got in a car accident a year ago and broke 15 bones.”
Buck also has a new website that allows kids to go online and “talk” to the dog about traffic and safety rules. Visitors can also read safety-related news articles, letters from kids, play a game, and enter contests.
Buck’s owner, Cumberland County Traffic Safety Coordinator Bill Garrison, dresses Buck in an orange safety coat for public appearances. Garrison says the tender, attention-loving dog helps him reach kids with a critical message about safety.
“It’s important for children to know that if they don’t wear their bike helmets or cross an intersection properly when walking to school, or buckle-up every ride, their safety may be compromised,” he said.
To learn more about Buck, visit www.buckthebuckleupdog.org