Bike Safety Discussed

Newtown Police Officer Lenny Penna recently talked to Sandy Hook School second-graders about bike safety at the C.H. Booth Library.

Penna, who is the school resource officer at Newtown Middle School, spends the summer break patrolling the town on his bicycle along with Jason Flynn, the other school resource officer, who is posted at Newtown High School.

"Why do we use bikes? Sometimes a bike goes where cars can't," Penna told the students at the start of his presentation.

The officer asked the students who used training wheels on their bicycle and a few hands popped up.

"Training wheels are to keep you safe," Penna said, adding that while training wheels are fine when the bicycle moves in a straight line, they can be dangerous when rounding a corner. "If you go too fast around a corner, the bike is going to turn over."

Penna also talked about the importance of helmets and making sure they fit properly around the head – it should be tight enough so that only two fingers can fit in the space between the strap and chin.

"If you can't open your mouth all the way, it's too tight," he said.

The law requires anyone who is younger than 16-years-old to wear a helmet though everyone should wear one, including adults, Penna said.

"Maybe today you can tell them why it's important we wear helmets," he said.

Penna also told the children that if they fall off their bicycles or get into an accident where their helmets hit the pavement or hard surface, they should buy a new helmet. But if the helmet is dropped while not being worn, as long as there are no cracks on the outside, the helmet does not need to be replaced because the foam inside is likely to be unaffected, he said.

At the same time, the foam has a life span of five to seven years, and so if a helmet has been sitting on the shelf for that long, it probably shouldn't be used because the foam has lost its effectiveness, Penna said.

The officer also warned the students about tying their shoelaces when bicycling because the laces could get tangled and pose a danger. Also no flip-flops because they can get caught up in the pedals.

Using both brakes on the bicycle is important, Penna said, adding that bikers put themselves at danger of falling if they use only the front or back brakes.

"If you do two, it's going to stop without skidding and not flipping you over," he said. "No matter how many brakes you have or what kind of brakes you have, use them together."

Children also should only ride their bicycles when there is an adult supervising, Penna said, adding that because children are small in stature, motorists may not be able to see them bicycling on the roadway. Riding with an adult would increase their visibility.