Bike Safety Focus at Walnut Street School

Bif Ridgeway from Bike World fits a Walnut Street School kindergarten student with a new helmet.

Summer is just weeks away, and that will mean more kids outside riding bikes. The Walnut Street School staff, Parent Teacher Organization and Bike World teamed up to make summer a little safer for their kindergarten class.

Each child received a helmet at no cost courtesy of the PTO, and a bike safety lesson from Bif Ridgeway of Bike World.

He showed them a video about basic bike safety, and demonstrated with two eggs the difference between wearing a helmet in a crash, and not having a helmet. He also had some advice for students to take home.

“The two most common mistakes families make is not having a bike that fits their child, or a helmet that fits properly,” Ridgeway said.

Ridgeway offered the following suggestions for proper bike helmet fit:

• The helmet should be snug on the head, with no front to back movement. Some side to side movement is ok.
• Side straps should form a “v” under each ear.
• The helmet should rest two fingers above the eyebrows, no more.
• When fastened, you should be able to comfortably fit two fingers between the rider’s chin and the strap.

For the kids, the color of the helmet may be just as important.

“My new helmet looks really cool,” said kindergarten student Azul Martinez-Rodriguez. “I have a bike but I don’t know how to ride it, but I’m going to learn now.”

That’s music to Ridgeway’s ears because instilling a love of riding is one of Bike World’s goals.

“We just love giving back to the community,” he said.