In the state of Washington, bicycle injuries are the second leading cause of injury-related hospitalizations for children ages 5-14.

The majority of bicycle deaths involving children in Washington occur to those not wearing a bicycle helmet, which led Safe Kids South King County to create a Safe Rider campaign in order to reduce unintentional injury to children participating in wheeled sports.

The Safe Rider campaign seeks to reward children who are observed wearing their helmets in South King County by partnering with McDonald’s and local police and fire departments. Children observed wearing their helmets by on-duty uniformed personnel will receive a “Safe Rider Citation”, which can be redeemed for a free vanilla reduced fat ice cream cone from a participating South King County McDonald’s.

This is the first year Safe Kids South King County and McDonald’s have partnered for the Safe Rider campaign. The campaign began in May with Safe Kids and McDonald’s supplying over 6,000 “Safe Rider Citation” coupons to participating police and fire departments in the South King County region.

Participating departments include: Normandy Park Police Department, Burien Police Department, SeaTac Police Department, Auburn Police Department, Maple Valley Police Department, Renton Police Department, North Highline Fire Department, Valley Regional Fire Department, Tukwila Fire Department, and King County Fire District 44.

Participating police and fire officials will be awarding “Safe Rider Citations” throughout the year to raise awareness about the importance of helmet safety in preventing unintentional injury to children.

About Safe Kids South King County:

Safe Kids Worldwide is the first and only international nonprofit organization dedicated solely to eliminating preventable childhood injury. Safe Kids South King County is 1 of 310 Safe Kids coalitions in the country that promote changes in attitudes, behaviors, laws, and the environment to prevent accidental injury to children. On a national level, Safe Kids has distributed more than 2.5 million bike helmets, 250,000 smoke alarms, and checked more than 740,000 car seats.  In the United States, Safe Kids has contributed to a 45 percent reduction in the child fatality rate from accidental injury – saving an estimated 38,000 children’s lives.

For more information on the Safe Rider campaign or for information on custom-fit bicycle helmets, please contact Safe Kids’ Coalition Coordinator Deb Will at 253-372-7729.