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kartSTART returns to Red Deer July 6 to 8 for 2018 Cross-Canada Tour

Jun 26, 2018 | 6:47 AM

RED DEER- Toyota’s kartSTART program celebrates its eighth year of providing hands on drivers safety education to kids across Canada.

kartSTART will be held at Westerner Park – July 6 to 8. 

Led by retired professional race car driver, Russ Bond, the safety program has helped over 6000 kids establish an early foundation for safe and responsible driving using a car just their size – a go-kart.

“What’s great about the kartSTART program is kids are not only given the opportunity to experience being behind the wheel of a motorized vehicle (many for the first time), but they’re becoming familiar with driver safety well before they can get a license,” says Toyota spokesman Cyril Dimitris. “kartSTART is helping create a better, safer future for the drivers of tomorrow.”

New to this year’s program is a professionally designed go-kart made accessible for kids with physical disabilities so that they can drive too.

“I’m thrilled about this year’s additions to the program,” says Russ Bond, founder of kartSTART. “With the new accessible go-kart, we now have the ability to create a more inclusive environment, where mobility is no longer a barrier for children with physical disabilities affecting the lower limbs.”

The accessible go-kart looks the same as the other karts, but with hand-controlled throttle and braking incorporated into the design of the steering wheel.

(Gary McKinnon)    

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