By JESSE GRAHAM
SAFE cycling is the focus of a new police campaign running throughout October and Healesville Police Sergeant Stewart Thomson said the efforts aren’t just focused on punishing those behaving badly.
The Safe Cycle campaign will begin on 1 October and run to 31 October, with police officers patrolling Healesville on bicycles and talking about safe cycling practices.
From wearing a helmet, to using lights to ride at night and using bicycle lanes on roads, Sgt Thomson said the campaign was also about rewarding bike riders following the law.
“We’ll have four or five officers on bikes, identifying kids doing the right thing – they’ll get a Safe Cycle bracelet and go in the draw to in a prize,” he said.
“It’s not all about enforcement – it’s about education, awareness and rewarding kids.”
Sgt Thomson said children that were breaking the law could risk a fine of $144 to $722 for various offences and that many people did not realise that bicycles have similar laws to motor vehicles.
“There are offences like failing to obey traffic lights, crossing over double white lines, failure to wear a helmet,” he said.
“Bicycles are bound by the same road rules and regulations as cars – they’re still a vehicle.”
The aim of the Safe Cycle campaign is to reduce the frequency and incidence of bicycle injuries and to teach safety on the roads to children, who will eventually become drivers.
“Kids are performing a lot more high risk activities on bikes,” Sgt Thomson said.
“They need the appropriate safety gear to make sure they can enjoy their activities and go home after.
“We want to get them up to speed on a bicycle so they can apply it to different vehicles – young cyclists can get used to getting away with unlawful behaviour, which can affect their future attitudes.”
Sgt Thomson said prizes were yet to be announced, but that officers would hand out Safe Cycle bracelets over the month for entrants.
The Safe Cycle campaign will be run across the state.
