Racing as fast as you can in front of a South Simcoe Police Service radar gun was actually a good thing this weekend at a Bike Safety Rodeo in Bradford West Gwillimbury.
Open to all elementary school children in town and their families, the event at St. Angela Merici Catholic School featured a variety of activities, including one where kids could race their bikes down a speed track, with officers using a radar gun to clock their speeds.
The Saturday event was a collaboration between police, the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit, local elementary schools in the Simcoe County and Simcoe Muskoka Catholic district school boards, and the Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury.
Police and volunteers were on-hand to ensure bike helmets fit properly and bicycles were properly maintained, with working brakes, proper tires, and all required safety gear — reflectors, and a horn or bell.
“We’re also taking serial numbers, so we know the owner of the bike,” said volunteer Bill Williamson. That way, if a bicycle is stolen and then recovered by police, it can be returned, he said.
Kids at the rodeo could make their ways around an obstacle course, and they each received a ballot for a draw for one of two new bikes donated by local families.
But the first stop at the rodeo was the display set up by the health unit, where registered nurse Madiha Magsi explained the importance of wearing a helmet.
She invited kids to touch the model of a brain, noting that it was “soft, like Jell-O” and can be injured.
She demonstrated using raw eggs: the eggs packed in Styrofoam to simulate a helmet survived a fall, but the eggs without it shattered when dropped.
The Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury and Bradford’s Canadian Tire donated brand new bicycle helmets to every school participating in this spring’s Walk ‘n Wheel Wednesday. The schools pooled the helmets for the rodeo, so any child without a helmet or whose helmet did not fit received a new one.
The event was all about safety. Research by the Canadian Injury Compass shows bicycle accidents are a leading cause of traumatic brain injury in children, and helmet use can reduce the severity of head injuries by up to 80 per cent.
