Sheriff’s office promotes bicycle safety for kids
By josh davidson
Staff Writer

MIDDLETOWN — The Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office has created a program that encourages kids to wear bicycle helmets.

"One of the key things the sheriff tries to do is to help young people understand that it is cool to wear a helmet," Monmouth County Undersheriff Adam Puharic said.

The fact that police, firefighters and military soldiers wear helmets makes children more comfortable to be seen in them, he added.

The sheriff’s safety program gave a bike safety presentation and collected contest entries from children at Middletown’s Leonardo Elementary School April 1 and the Middletown Village School April 3.

Brain injury is the leading cause of death in bike accidents and the leading cause of disability among survivors, Monmouth County Sheriff Joseph W. Oxley said.

Helmets can prevent up to 90 percent of injuries, he said.

Children under the age of 14 are required by law to wear helmets when riding a bike in New Jersey, he said.

In the United States, every day a child is killed from bicycle riding-related trauma and 50 are injured, Puharic said.

Oxley put together the bike safety program and the Brain Injury Association of New Jersey donated 250 helmets, Puharic said.

The program targets fifth-graders, he said.

The sheriff’s department sent out letters to schools asking if they wanted to use the program, he said. Those who responded first could take part in it.

"We ended up getting six schools that were willing to participate," he said.

Other schools involved were in Howell, Freehold Borough, Avon-by-the-Sea and Asbury Park, he said.

The students who participated in the program competed in a bike safety poster and essay contest, with the winners to be announced in May, he said.

Puharic anticipated receiving between 250 to 400 entries, he said.

Each school was visited by Oxley, representatives from the Brain Injury Association and nurses from New Jersey Medical Center, Neptune.

The nurses showed the students a bike safety video that included an interview with a child who had received brain trauma from a biking accident.

The nurses used a model of the brain to explain what was affected by specific injuries.

"Sheriff Oxley is most grateful for the participation of the nurses from the Jersey Shore Medical Center," Puharic said. "Without their participation, this program would not be possible."

Students were affected by the presentation, Puharic said.

Before it began, the children would be asked how many of them used bike helmets, he said.

Many wouldn’t raise their hand, he said.

At the end, they were asked how many would wear helmets over the summer, and most agreed to do so, he said.