An important component of the SVBC mission is the coordination of bike safety instruction for middle school students. Qualified bicycling instructors have presented our interactive, age-appropriate course to over 8,000 middle school students across Santa Clara County in the prior two years, and we will be teaching an additional 7,000 students this spring.

A lack of appropriate traffic skills is a significant factor in juvenile bicycle injuries and fatalities. Nationally, a full half of the bicyclist fatalities in children aged 10 to 15 occurred at an intersection in 2004 (US DOT FARS data, 2004).

Further, in May 2004, the National SAFE KIDS Campaign reported the results of an observational survey of helmet usage among children ages 5-14 years participating in wheeled sports. A 59% majority of the kids were not wearing helmets at all, and of those wearing them, only 6% were wearing them correctly.

The SVBC curriculum covers:
• the basics of traffic law
• basic bike and helmet fitting
• the most common types of bike crashes and how to avoid them
• how to position yourself properly on the road
• how to let drivers know your intentions
• how to deal with left turns and 4-way stops

In the Drive That Bike game show presentation, teams of students compete against each other to answer questions about bicycle and pedestrian safety. After each question the instructor explains which answer is correct using diagrams, photos and videos. This dynamic format engages the students by challenging them to think before the correct answer is revealed.

Students at participating schools are invited to an after-school event called the On Bike Challenge. Here they test their skills at various stations including an emergency stop, a snail race, and a shoulder check. A mechanic is usually available for minor adjustments. Prizes donated by Sports Basement are raffled off to kids completing various skill stations.

With funds granted by the Almaden Cycling Touring Club (ACTC), SVBC is able to distribute helmets to participating middle school children that lack one. The distribution includes proper fitting instructions and demonstrations by volunteers.

For more information about participating in the program, or having the program implemented at your children’s middle school, please contact us.

SVBC Middle School Bicycle Education progarm was made possible by a grant from Kids’ Plate. Please consider purchasing a license plate from Kids’ Plate. Proceeds from your purchase fund programs that benefit California’s child injury prevention efforts.