Anthony Simard may only be in Grade 3, but he knows it doesn’t take a college degree to understand the importance of wearing a bike helmet.
“If you ever get into an accident and you don’t have a bike helmet, devastating injuries could occur,” said the Ogden Community School student.
Ogden and St. Jude School received bike helmets from the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association Bike Helmets on Kids program Monday morning and Simard was excited to receive his, even though he already has one he wears every time he rides his bike.
Now he has a backup.
The Ontario Trial Lawyers Association partnered with the Brain Injury Services of Northern Ontario for the program gave out 400 helmets Monday. This is the second year for the program, which gave out 150 helmets at McKellar Park School last year.
OTLA bike helmet coordinator Duncan Macgillivray said the program is about getting a helmet on every kid’s head and to promote bicycle safety in general.
As a lawyer, his firm sees numerous people injure in cycling accidents.
“We see cyclists who have been hit by cars, that sort of thing and if they’re not wearing a helmet then chances are they are hitting their head … that’s going to be a major problem medically afterwards,” he said.
“You drive around the city or you walk around the city or you ride around the city and you see an awful lot of kids and adults without helmets,” Macgillivray said, adding they need to get the message across, to children especially, to protect your head.
