Kids Statewide to Celebrate Bike to School Day May 10

DENVER—On Wednesday, May 10, thousands of children across Colorado will be strapping on helmets and filling up bike racks for the sixth annual National Bike to School Day. Nearly 100 schools across the state and more than 1,500 schools nationwide are participating.

"This year's participation in Bike to School Day is as exciting as ever," said CDOT Safe Routes to School Program Manager Leslie Feuerborn. "Support for events across Colorado from Campo to Carbondale and Salida to Sterling and all along the Front Range is inspiring, and we couldn't be more pleased with how many communities and families are coming together to promote safe bicycling to school on this one day."

May also is National Bike Month. Students, parents, teachers and community leaders will be bicycling or walking to and from school throughout the month; drivers are encouraged to be extra cautious. Distracted driving is a common cause of crashes, so motorists are urged to put down their cellphones, keep their eyes on the road and watch for children near roadways.

Bike to School events are designed to create safer routes for bicycling and walking, and emphasize the importance of increasing physical activity among children, cyclist and pedestrian safety, traffic congestion, concern for the environment, and building connections between families, schools and the broader community.

In addition, these events can help encourage communities to implement policy or engineering changes that make it safer to walk and bike to school. In 2016, nearly 70 percent of the organizers said their event led to planned, or already completed, policy or engineering changes.

CDOT encourages schools and parents to remind their students about riding safely to and from school.

• Protect your brain; helmet up on every ride.
• Do a bike ABC quick check (air, brakes, cranks and chain).
• Be visible; wear bright clothes.
• Stick to your planned route to and from school.
• Ride in the same direction as traffic when on the street.
• Look left, right and left again before crossing the street.
• Use hand signals when stopping or turning.
• Be extra careful by driveways, parking lots and intersections.
• Parents and children should practice the safe route to school before Bike to School Day.

Bike to School Day builds on the popularity and success of Walk to School Day, celebrated across the country—and the world—each October.