National Bike Month continues with National Bike to School Day! Modeled after October’s Walk to School Day, Bike to School Day encourages school-age children to bike to school for a change to build awareness for communities to be more bikeable. Bike to School Day also encourages children to be more active by biking to school more often and promotes bike safety.
A new addition to Bike Month, Bike to School Day has been sponsored by the League of American Bicyclists and the National Center for Safe Routes to School since May 2012. The organizations created the event to provide schools with the opportunity to celebrate and build off of the energy of National Bike Month and to give children and youths their own Bike Month activity. This year, Bike to School Day falls on May 7.
If you or your child is hesitant to bike to school, even if for a day, head over to walkbiketoschool.org for reasons why your child should bike to school. We guarantee that the rewards of biking to school will garner your support and have your kids wanting to bike to school every day of the year.
Before your child heads to school by bike this morning, make sure to go over these important safety tips to ensure your child’s trip is fun and safe:
- Wear a properly fitted helmet.
- Make sure your tires are properly inflated and that your brakes work before riding. Inflate tires, as needed.
- Make yourself visible by wearing neon, fluorescent, or bright colors and/or a reflective vest. Equip your bike with flashing lights for even more visibility.
- Use a bike path, if you have one in your community.
- Ride on the right side of the road, with traffic, and stay as far right as possible, if there is no bike path available.
- Cross the street at intersections. Look both ways before crossing and make eye contact with stopped drivers before crossing to make sure they can see you.
- Avoid distractions and watch for hazards, such as potholes, glass, gravel, puddles, leaves, people, and animals.
- Avoid riding at night. If you must ride at night, make sure you can be seen.