FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, January 21, 1998
Contact: Tim Hurd
Tel. No.: (202) 366-9550
NHTSA 2-98
SAN DIEGO STUDENTS PARTICIPATE
IN SUPER BOWL BICYCLE SAFETY EVENT
Some 250 fourth grade students from San Diego County schools today participated in the "Ride Like A Pro" bicycle safety event held at Merrill-Douglas Stadium in conjunction with Super Bowl XXXII activities in San Diego, to promote bicycle safety and bicycle helmet use.
The City of San Diego has been one of California’s leaders in promoting safe cycling, both through its school based safety programs and with its growing bicycle commuter program.
The students who attended the event learned the benefits of wearing a bicycle helmet and practiced safe riding skills through a series of exercises teaching good riding habits. Each child received a bicycle helmet.
San Diego Chargers running back Terrell Fletcher spoke to the students, and he stressed the importance of wearing a helmet on and off the playing field. "Wearing a bicycle helmet is the single most effective measure bicycle riders -- both young and old -- can take to prevent brain injuries in crashes. This event today was designed so young riders could hear straight from the pros that helmets work," Fletcher said.
According to the Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), bicycle crashes are a major cause of injury-related deaths among children. NHTSA Administrator Ricardo Martinez, M.D., said that 70 to 80 percent of fatal bicycle crashes involve head injuries.
"Every young rider should wear a helmet because helmets are more than 85 percent effective in reducing head and brain injuries," said Dr. Martinez. "Safety is President Clinton’s top transportation priority, and when it comes to bicycles, putting on a helmet is the safest thing you can do."
Dr. Martinez, a board-certified emergency physician, noted that bicycle crashes that result in serious head injury are among the most tragic we see in hospital emergency rooms because they are so easily preventable. These injuries are frequently both costly and result in life-long disabilities.
According to Dr. Martinez, 761 bicyclists were killed in traffic crashes in 1996. Nearly one-third of the bicyclists killed were between the ages of 5 and 15 years old.
The event also featured Safe Moves’ "Helmet Heroes"-- three kids who survived bike collisions because they were wearing helmets. California’s Safe Moves program was the winner of the U.S. Transportation Secretary’s Award at the 1996 Moving Kids Safely Conference on June 11, 1996, in Vienna, Va., and has been the biggest provider of bicycle education programs at the local level in California for several years.
Today’s was the fourth annual "Ride Like A Pro" bicycle safety event; it was sponsored jointly by the National Football League, NHTSA, the California Bicycle Safety Network and Troxel, a bicycle helmet manufacturer.
According to Dr. Martinez, the event gives students the opportunity to receive hands-on bicycle training which includes instruction on the significance of using helmets and the proper way to wear them.
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