Saving lives - one helmet at a time
By Jim Westhoff
Cape Gazette staff
Free bicycle helmets, lights and plenty of instruction were handed out to cyclists who attended this week’s Use Your Head Bike Safety Fair.
Held June 20 at Ocean Atlantic Agency in Rehoboth Beach, the event was organized by Ocean Atlantic, Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) and Sussex Cyclists.
“This is partly in response to all the horrendous events on Route 1,” said Kent Hanneman, of Ocean Atlantic, referring to the recent bicycle fatality there and other earlier accidents. Three years ago, he said, Ocean Atlantic handed out fewer than 100 helmets, but this year, they have more than 3,000 to give away.
“We want to promote safety,” Hanneman said.
Ocean Atlantic still has plenty of helmets left, so anyone who would like a helmet should stop by the Rehoboth Avenue location and pick one up.
Targeted this year are the thousands of foreign students who come to the Cape Region to work during the summer.
Hanneman said he is concerned that many students do not wear helmets and often ride on the wrong side of the road.
“We just don’t want people to get hurt this year,” said Tony Pezone, president of Sussex Cyclists, a local bicycling club. “We’re trying to teach them to always wear their helmet, ride with the traffic and obey all the traffic laws,” he said.
Pezone said his group spent a quarter of its annual budget on the bike safety fair.
“We had a surge of interest later in the day, and the numbers were significantly better than last year for the safety seminar,” Pezone said. “We had about 50 percent more people attending and gave away over 700 helmets with another 70 going to Lewes Library for distribution there.”
In addition to helmets and lights, two new bicycles were raffled off.
Mary Balfe, a seasonal worker from Longford, Ireland, won a new Giant Cypress bicycle. She said she came to the event to learn about the local laws. “I wanted to find out if they are the same as at home. I also heard they will be giving out helmets.”
DelDOT spent about $10,000 on the event, said Mollie Raley, a planner for the state agency.
Other groups who lent their support were Delaware State Police, Beebe Medical Center, Sussex County SAFE Kids, McDonald’s of Rehoboth, Lots of Linens, and the Chambers of Commerce in both Lewes and Rehoboth Beach.
Rehoboth Beach Police was also on hand, giving out information about local bicycle laws.
As Balfe left the building with her new bicycle, Pezone said, “If we see you riding without a helmet, we take back the bike.”
