MPS students get in gear with bike safety rodeo

STATE FAIR PARK-Warmer weather means more kids out on bicycles.


On Thursday, MPS organized a bicycle rodeo to brush up on safety and make sure each child had a helmet that fit properly.


Studies show only 1 in 4 children 14 and under wear a helmet.


 \"We want them to be out riding bikes,\" Lisa Klindt Simpson of Safe Kids Southeast Wisconsin told CBS 58 News.\"We want them on skateboard or roller  skates. But we want them to do it safely. The first thing that we want to focus on is getting them a helmet.


Winners Wear Helmets is an interactive and educational bike rodeo that teaches proper bike helmet use and safety. Each child will be fitted for and receive a free helmet donated by the Habush Habush & Rottier Charitable Foundation, which has distributed more than 110,600 bicycle helmets to children throughout Wisconsin since 1999.

 


600 third graders from MPS took part in the rodeo at State Fair Park.


Each day in emergency rooms nationwide, more than 700 kids are treated for injuries received while riding bikes, skateboards and scooters. Many of these injuries are life-threatening and disabling. Wearing helmets and other protective gear and following the rules of the road can help prevent injuries. Properly fitted bike helmets can reduce the risk of bike-related brain injuries by 88 percent. However, only 25 percent of cyclists ages 14 and younger wear a helmet. The Winners Wear Helmets event helps kids learn the importance of wheeled-sport safety.

 

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