Search

close   X

5/4/16 news article

Safe Kids Greater Dayton celebrates Bike to School Day

schools nationwide promote bike safety

Safe Kids Greater Dayton joined St. Charles Borromeo School in Kettering to celebrate Bike to School Day. Each year, this event brings together children, parents and educators to raise awareness about bike safety.

bike to school day

In partnership with Bell Sports, hundreds of communities across the United States celebrated Bike to School Day as part of National Bike Month. All events promoted biking to school as a safe and fun way to travel, while highlighting important bike safety information, like wearing a helmet.

“It’s important for bicyclists to wear properly-fitted bicycle helmets every time they ride. A helmet is the single most effective way to prevent head injury from a bicycle crash,” said Abbey Rymarczyk, Safe Kids Greater Dayton coordinator and community relations coordinator at Dayton Children’s Hospital. “But many children still do not wear them. We have a simple saying - Use your head. Wear a helmet.”

bike to school

To highlight the importance of helmets, Safe Kids Greater Dayton partners fitted each child with a helmet donated by Bell Sports the day before so they could ride safely. Children also signed a certificate, agreeing to wear a helmet every time they ride, learn and practice bike safety rules as well as be a good example of safe riding.

Nearly 250,000 kids ages 19 and younger were seen in emergency rooms for bike-related injuries in 2014. Bike to School Day is an important opportunity for students to learn how to safely bike to and from school.

Safe Kids Greater Dayton reminds families to follow these tips when biking:

  • Tell your kids to ride on the right side of the road, with traffic, not against it. Stay to as far to the right as possible. Use appropriate hand signals and respect traffic signals. Stop at all stop signs and stoplights.
  • Teach your kids to make eye contact with drivers to make sure drivers are paying attention and are going to stop before they cross the street.
  • When your kids are riding at dusk, dawn or in the evening, make sure they use lights – and make sure their bikes have reflectors as well. It's also smart to have them wear clothes and accessories that have retro-reflective materials to improve visibility to motorists.
  • Actively supervise children until you're comfortable that they are responsible to ride on their own.

For more information, visit www.safekids.org.

About Safe Kids Greater Dayton

Safe Kids Greater Daytonw orks to prevent unintentional childhood injury, the number one cause of death for children in the United States. Its members include representatives from local hospitals, schools, fire and police departments as well as a host of other agencies interested in the well-being of children. Safe Kids Greater Dayton is a member of Safe Kids Worldwide, a global network of organizations dedicated to preventing unintentional injury. Safe Kids Greater Daytonis led by Dayton Children’s Hospital. For more information, visit safekids.org.

For more information, contact:

Stacy Porter

Public relations manager

Phone: 937-641-3666

newsroom@childrensdayton.org