Sunday Cartoon: Bus Stop Kids spring into bike helmet safety

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BURRILLVILLE – It’s springtime and that means nicer weather and increased outdoor activities involving kids everywhere.

I hate to write this, but I see far too many kids riding bikes that are not wearing protective helmets and pads while participating in bike riding across the area on warm and sunny days. I witness many little kids and teens riding their bikes without wearing helmets and not following bike riding safety rules during the spring, summer and fall months in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut while I am traveling to classic car and truck shows, cruise nights and community safety events in these three New England states.

I even see this occurring at community bike and skateboard parks on a regular basis. Occasionally, I’ll talk to the kids and ask them why they are not wearing bike helmets and they tell me, “It’s not cool and they don’t want to look like a dork in front of their friends. We have them at home but we don’t like wearing them.”

So, a majority of the time parents are purchasing helmets for their kids but the kids aren’t wearing them. These Bus Stop Kids bike and helmet safety coloring cartoons were requested by Hasbro Children’s Hospital and 4-Safety Organization in an effort to reach out to kids about the importance of wearing helmets while riding bikes. A visual emphasis was illustrated depicting kids following bike riding rules and wearing helmets.

Riding bikes on a bike path and not on streets is highly recommended and my, “No Helmet? No Bike!” slogan was also incorporated into my coloring cartoons, reminding kids to wear helmets while riding bikes anywhere. Parents, police officers, teachers, pediatric nurses and doctors are encouraged to print out these bike riding coloring cartoons and discuss helmet safety with kids.

Use Your Head, Don’t Lose Your Head, Wear Bike Helmets!

Jim Weicherding is a Burrillville resident, and the founder and creator of an award-winning traffic safety effort Seasons of Safety. Weicherding contributes kids’ coloring cartoons, which can be printed and used to help parents discuss safety issues with their children. He has a long list of police officers and firefighters in his family and  has worked with law enforcement and firefighters in a creative public safety capacity for more than two decades.

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