ADVISORY/Otto the Auto Helps County-Wide Effort to Teach Children About Dangers of Talking to Strangers

    --Auto Club

                           
WHO:    The Automobile Club of Southern California and the Santa Ana
        and Anaheim police departments join with the Discovery Science
        Center in a county-wide safety event teaching children lessons
        on avoiding strangers.

WHAT:   Otto the Auto, a robotic "talking car" will give safety
        presentations to Orange County children and parents. Santa Ana
        Police Department will provide fingerprinting from 10 a.m.
        until 2 p.m. There will be a parent presentation on how to
        keep kids safe, as well as a video "Never Say Yes to
        Strangers," provided by the Department of Justice. Children
        will be encouraged to illustrate lessons learned in special
        coloring books, provided by the Auto Club.

WHEN:   Thursday, Aug. 15. Otto, the talking Auto will have
        presentations at 10 a.m., 10:45 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.

WHERE:  Discovery Science Center, 2500 N. Main St., Santa Ana.

WHY:    Following the tragic kidnapping of Samantha Runnion, Orange
        County officials are increasing efforts to teach children
        strategies for staying safe. Otto the Auto is well known to
        kindergarten, first- and second-grade children throughout
        Southern California. Last year, Otto taught his safety lessons
        to nearly 57,000 children. Otto, a three-foot-tall robotic
        car, teaches traffic and pedestrian safety through songs and
        conversations with students in both English and Spanish. For
        this event, Otto has a special presentation that has been
        developed with help from police child safety experts.