Published: October 01, 2009 08:22 am      

Bike rodeo

Waco students get safety instructions

WACO — Students at Waco Elementary School are learning to keep safe on two wheels.

Kosair Children’s Hospital of Louisville brought its bike rodeo to the school Wednesday to teach third, fourth and fifth-grade students basic safety skills.

“No. 1 is to wear a helmet and follow all the rules of the road,” said Doug Beckhart, who teaches the safety class. “A lot of kids don’t wear their helmet and they don’t stop at stop signs.”

The bike rodeo, which travels to 175 schools each year, provides the students with bikes and helmets and a basic obstacle course that consists of stop signs, a railroad crossing and cones that riders have to maneuver through in a safe manner.

Riding through the obstacle course was a new experience for some of the students.

“You have to use your brakes a lot,” said Abryhauna Duerson, 10, a fifth-grade student. “It makes you get used to stopping at stop signs and lights.”

The course consists of a straightaway that ends in a stop sign, then works its way through a series of cones and additional stop signs, with students being closely watched to make sure they obey all the rules.

Anyone who fails to obey a rule has to do jumping jacks. A continued violation of rules eliminates a rider from that particular event, forcing them to sit out and watch.

During each 40-minute session, riders are in near constant motion as they learn basic rules of riding.

“I’m hoping to learn some new rules,” said Jada Morgan, 10, a fifth-grade student.

Riders also learned hand signals for making turns, the proper side of the street to ride on when there is no sidewalk available and making sure to stop and look both ways before proceeding at a stop sign.

Throughout the session, Beckhart continually reminded everyone that as long as they are on a bike, they should always wear a helmet.

That sentiment seemed to sink in with the students.

“We learned, no matter what age you are, you always wear a helmet,” said Brad Brumfield, 11, a fifth-grade student.

The rodeo, which is free of charge, is part of the Louisville and Jefferson County SAFE KIDS Coalition along with the Governor’s Highway Safety Branch of the Kentucky Transportation Depart-ment.

Tim Mandell can be reached at tmandell@richmondregister.com or 623-1669 ext. 6696.