Contact: Lisa Deffendall • First Posted: Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Money raised by all those brightly colored “Share the Road” license plates will now help thousands of elementary school children learn the rules of bike safety.

Fayette County Public Schools has been awarded a grant from the Kentucky Bicycle and Bikeway Commission to help institute a bike safety education program in all of its elementary schools. And that means roughly 16,000 students in grades K-5 will now learn about bike safety in their physical education classes.

“One of the things we see very often is that people who haven’t been instructed on safety do things that are very dangerous that not only threaten their own lives, but are dangerous to the motoring community,” said William Gorton, a member of the Kentucky Bicycle and Bikeway Commission.

Those mistakes include not following safety laws or not wearing helmets, said Gorton, who is an avid cyclist.

“When you’re growing up, a bicycle is a toy. But it’s more than that when you get older,” he said. “It’s a vehicle. We want our kids to know it, and know it young.”

The district received $9,300 from the Paula Nye Memorial Educational Grant program, which receives revenue generated by the purchase of “Share the Road” license plates to support the “It’s About Kids – Riding Bikes” program.

Beginning this school year, all elementary school physical education teachers will receive training from certified League of American Bicyclists Cycling Instructors. The PE teachers will then be responsible for teaching the bike safety curriculum to all of their students.

“We want our kids active. We want our kids riding bikes,” said Betty White, a health and physical education teacher at Beaumont Middle School, who also serves as the district’s practical living and vocational specialist. “But we want them to be safe when they do it. A lot of children just don’t understand the safety rules, like using hand signals and following the rules of the road.”

White said bike safety is especially important to her after losing one of her best friends in a bicycling accident.

“It might have been different if she’d been wearing a helmet,” she lamented. “I ask my students, ‘Do you wear a helmet?’ and I’m sorry to say, a majority of kids in middle schools do not wear a helmet when they bike. There’s a lot of education that needs to go on.”

Three years ago, Superintendent Stu Silberman was in a dramatic bike accident that required six surgeries and kept him in and out of hospitals and physical therapy for three months.

“This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart,” Silberman said. “If we can keep one kid from having a serious accident through this grant, then our efforts will be worth it. But I’m confident we’re going to help a whole lot more than that. This is an opportunity to ensure that all of our elementary students are exposed to bike safety.”

One of the ultimate goals of the Kentucky Bicycle and Bikeway Commission is to bolster a culture of safe cycling coupled with the infrastructure to promote bicycle use for recreation and transportation across the Commonwealth and in Lexington, Gorton said.

“I know that Gov. Beshear and Mayor Newberry are strong advocates, too.” And along those lines, the commission is pleased to have FCPS as a partner that “recognizes the importance and benefits associated with cycling and bicycle safety, especially as our community embraces efforts to become a nationally recognized Bicycle Friendly City.”