Bicycle Safety in the Community

Last December, we reported on our bicycle safety partnership with the Department of Health and Environmental Control, Division of Injury & Violence Prevention and Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMS-C). This partnership allows the Coalition to coordinate with communities around the state to provide vital bicycle safety equipment to children and adults.

Two of the communities that received bicycle safety items include the Bike Club at Edisto Elementary School in Cordova, and the City of Greenville's bicycle friendly community initiative, Bikeville. We're very excited to report on progress from these two communities.

According to an update from Michelle Hughes, teacher at Edisto Elementary and organizer of the Bike Club:

Bike Club meets after school every other Monday to practice our bicycle traffic safety procedures. Our goal is to use safe, smart communication and observation skills to make ourselves known as vehicles that have a right to be on the road. We want our community to recognize, respect, and share the road with us. Through a partnership with the Department of Health and Environmental Control’s Division of Injury & Violence Prevention and EMS-C, our cyclers have been equipped with safety gear and educated on their importance and proper use. Our first meeting for 2011 was held on Monday, January 24. Members present at that meeting excitedly armed themselves and their bicycles with the safety items.

The Bike Club at Edisto consists of fourteen fifth graders, and is a vital program in a rural community that sees some of the highest rates of obesity and childhood inactivity in South Carolina. We cannot thank Ms. Hughes enough for her efforts in Cordova, and for the meaningful ways in which she is impacting children at her school.

Our other update comes from our friends in Greenville who are working to make the city more bicycle friendly. In early February, volunteers with Bikeville set up a safety station at Triune Mercy Center, a non-denominational church in downtown that offers services to the homeless. Volunteers offered basic bicycle repairs to visitors of the safety station, as well as lights, helmets and other reflective materials important for night-time and low-light riding.

Here's a great photo of Bikeville in action at Triune, and for more great pictures check out those uploaded on flickr. Thanks Bikeville for your incredible efforts!