Bike rodeo gears up for safety

By Karen Carr Keefe

Senior Contributing Writer

As bicycles, e-bikes and scooters come out of basements and garages and onto the trails this spring, safety is a prime concern.

That’s the idea behind the Bike Rodeo and Family Safety Day.

The free, educational event takes place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, May 30, at Grand Island Town Hall and Town Commons.

The event was initiated by Jennifer Chinn of the Grand Island Women of the Moose Chapter 1922 and Moose Lodge 180. These nonprofit organizations are working with Investigator Christopher Pyc and the Grand Island Police Department to provide safety education and fun for the young and old.

Chinn said the idea for the event was based on being a Moose member “and trying to help the Grand Island community in different ways. This is one new way of doing that.”

She said when her kids were young, she attended a similar bike safety event in which community police held a bike rodeo and taught bicycle safety and proper helmet fit.

“I see a lot of people riding without helmets,” she said. “I see people that don’t know how to do signals – adults that don’t use hand signals. I want everybody to be safe on the roads and I want, as a driver, not to be at risk of hurting someone.”

Chinn said the event is not just for kids – “It’s for the whole family. I'm hoping that the islanders will come out, young and old because, there’s information for all ages.”

Pyc said the Grand Island Police Department will be there.

“The Moose approached us with a good idea, and we suggested possibly a bike rodeo where we could have the younger kids drive through some cones, like a quick course, and get the feel for their bikes and check their bikes out,” he said.

“The other component was to tie this in with education for both adults and kids, when we’re talking about scooters, bikes and e-bikes. People aren’t as up-to-date on what the current New York state laws are for bikes, e-bikes and scooters.”

He said, “E-bikes are not allowed to go on any road that is posted over 30 mph, no matter where you are. Even if the e-bike can only go 20 mph, it’s still not allowed to go on a road that’s posted over 30 mph. Basically, most of the roads on Grand Island.

“We’re also going to have the Erie County Sheriff’s Office there, and they’re going to be doing child car seat checks.

Pyc said the event “is kind of a ‘get yourself ready for summer,’ as far as bikes go. We’re looking forward to it.”

The activities will include:

•Bike safety education

•Bike and helmet safety checks

•Skill stations and/or obstacle course – to teach skills such as braking, balancing, scanning for hazards, all to help ensure bikers have the skills needed to safely ride this summer.

•Baby/child seat check

•Child ID: Official nondriver identification document program for safety, travel and identification of minors.