Safe Cycling in Jacksonville

Volume 2, Number 4 - May/June 1999

When Stephen McCloskey became the Injury Prevention Manager for Duval County, Florida, he discovered that children between the ages of 5 and 14 accounted for 35 to 40 percent of bicycle-related injuries and fatalities in the county. Only 3.5 percent of these children were wearing helmets when they were injured.

In his search for partners to address this problem, McCloskey, who is also Program Manager of Safe Communities of Jacksonville, became involved with the Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee, a coalition that had attempted to bring bicycle safety education into the local schools but could not convince the school system to commit the necessary resources. McCloskey began a search for funding, which eventually led to a grant from the Florida Department of Transportation and supplemental funding from service clubs and the Brooks Health Foundation.

The program chosen for the schools was the Florida Traffic and Bicycle Safety Education Program developed at the University of Florida at Gainesville. It combines teacher training with a simulated road environment in which children learn and practice safety skills. McCloskey explains, "We put children in simulated dangerous traffic situations and teach them defensive moves. This is essential. Kids learn by doing." A team of physical education teachers and health department staff were trained to use, and teach others to use, the program. The project also designed and built 10 trailers to hold the necessary equipment, including bicycles, helmets, videos, and props for the simulated road environment.

The Traffic, Bicycle, and Pedestrian Safety Education Project has trained more than 55,000 children. But it does more than train children: It puts helmets on their heads. The program sustains this activity by using the proceeds from the helmets it sells (for four or five dollars each, which is less than the project pays for the helmets) to purchase additional helmets. In this way, the project projects that its initial investment in 19,800 helmets will result in the distribution of almost 50,000 helmets.

Three important policies have increased the effectiveness of the program. In 1997, Florida mandated the use of helmets by bicyclists age 16 and younger. The Duval County School Board established the curriculum goal that every student would participate in a pedestrian and bicycle safety program by the end of the fifth grade. The board also now requires any child riding a bicycle to or from school to wear a helmet.

The use of a comprehensive strategy encompassing education, environmental change (putting helmets on heads), and enforcement (of the state law, curriculum mandate, and school helmet rule) is proving remarkably effective. In 1997, bicycle helmet use by those under 12 increased by 425 percent. Helmet use by those ages 13 to 18 increased by 281 percent. Much of this increase is due to the safety program, which is demonstrated by the fact that elementary school children are using helmets at three times the rate of their middle school peers (most of whom have not completed the program), while adult helmet use actually decreased 10 percent.

For information about Safe Communities of Jacksonville, contact Stephen McCloskey, Duval County Health Department, Injury Prevention Program Office, 900 University Blvd., North, Suite 205, Jacksonville, FL 32211. Telephone: (904)630-3300, ext. 2308; fax: (904)745-3014; e-mail: Stephen_McCloskey@doh.state.fl.us.

For information about the Florida Traffic and Bicycle Safety Education Program, contact Linda Crider, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, 431 ARCH, P.O. Box 155706, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-5706. Telephone: (904) 392-8192; fax: (904) 392-8192.

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