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SIERRA VISTA — If your child is riding their bike without a helmet, it’s time to get one.
It’s not just good advice, it’s the law.
“Many parents don’t understand that ordinance is on the books,” said Fred Close, project coordinator for the Kiwanis Bicycle Safety Rodeo.
Volunteers from the Kiwanis Club of Sierra Vista, firefighters, police, Sun ’n’ Spokes and other volunteers offered bike safety tips and services at Veterans’ Memorial Park on Saturday.
 Tanner Koepp, 6, goes through the bike safety rodeo course sponsored by the Sierra Vista Kiwanis Club at Veterans’ Memorial Park on Saturday. Kiwanis member John Kenny, a volunteer, is in the background. (Mark Levy-Herald/Review) |
The first stop for children and their parents was a bike checkup where Aaron Abrams of Sun ’n’ Spokes tested the tires’ air and the brakes. Although it’s something parents regularly do for their cars, they don’t always do it for their children’s bicycles.
Check your child’s bike every few times they ride it and don’t assume your children know when the bike needs a tuneup, he told parents.
“We want to make sure they are as good as they can be,” he said.
Members of the Citizen’s Police Academy Association provided free bicycle registration.
After imbedding an identification number into the bike’s frame, the numbers were registered with the Sierra Vista Police Department, so police can better recover their bikes if they are stolen, said Casey Garcia, president of the association.
It’s a good idea to keep a photo of your bicycle on hand too, to help identify it if it is stolen, said Nancy Cassel, volunteer from the Sierra Vista West Rotary Club.
Cassel helped by selling bicycle helmets for $7.50. A few children who had outgrown their helmets bought new ones, and a firefighter from the Sierra Vista Fire Department made sure each child’s helmet was fitting correctly.
The right fit means the helmet isn’t loose, is level on the head, with snug straps and the “V” of the straps sitting just under the ears, said Matt Irlmeier, a firefighter and paramedic.
In the city, anyone under 18 is required to wear a helmet, said Scott Borgstadt, crime prevention officer for the Sierra Vista Police Department. Parents can be given a $50 fine if their children are riding without a helmet.
Borgstadt also filled kids and parents in on other bicycle laws:
• Although many people are taught to ride against the flow of traffic, bicycles must actually be ridden on the right side of the street, with the flow of traffic.
• A person can’t be pulled by a vehicle while riding a bicycle. It’s illegal and dangerous, he said.
• When riding at night, bicycles are required to have a headlight.
Once they were ready to ride, children were taught to stay alert by watching out for cutouts of cars and stop signs held by volunteers as they moved throughout the course.
How to look for cars before getting onto the street and before turning their bike around safely and other rules of the road are important to teach, Close said.
“Very young children don’t know what a stop sign is,” he said.
The free event was the second Bicycle Rodeo. Close hopes it will become an annual event after the holidays so kids can form good habits with their new bikes.
“You can never learn too much about bike safety,” said Devin Long, who brought his daughters, Mary, 7, and Charlotte, 3.
Mary Long said she knows how to be safe when riding her bike.
“Check your helmet before you ride and to make sure it’s nice and tight,” she said.
Angelica Smith went home with a new blue helmet and registered her bicycle. Her last bicycle was stolen, but she got a new one for doing well in school, she said.
She’s happy to again have the freedom a bike provides.
“You can go anywhere,” she said.
herald/review reporter Laura Ory can be reached at 515-4683 or by e-mail at laura.ory@svherald.com.
Iconoclast wrote on Feb 10, 2008 11:53 AM: