CHARLOTTE — Officials with the North Carolina Department of Transportation have increased their bike helmet initiative to help protect children across the state from serious injuries and even save some lives.
NCDOT’s 2024 Bicycle Helmet Initiative hopes to give out more than 12,000 helmets to about 157 organizations, ensuring children have access to the resources they need to be safe.
Since 2015, the initiative has given out 77,065 helmets to children in need.
Brennon Fuqua, interim director of the state’s Integrated Mobility Division, says wearing a helmet is one of the simplest ways to protect your head while riding a bike and hopes the initiative will prevent injuries.
“We hope the Bicycle Helmet Initiative will help reduce bicycle injuries and raise awareness about the importance of safe bicycling practices,” Fuqua said.
The initiative began in 2007 to inform cyclists, mainly kids, about the importance of wearing a helmet to reduce severe brain injury risk.
The Centers for Disease Control say children 17 and under made up about 40% of emergency room visits for nonfatal bicycle-related traumatic brain injuries from 2009 to 2018.
Some funds from NCDOT’s ‘Share the Road’ specialty license plates and federal funding to buy helmets are then handed out at local safety events for underprivileged kids.
Local organizations, like schools, YMCA, and churches, apply for the helmets at the beginning of the year and are chosen by the NCDOT.
For more information about NCDOT’s Bike Helmet Initiative, click here.
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