Taking It to the Streets

Abstract

A three-week bicycle safety module (BSM) featuring helmet use was developed for an inner-city, comprehensive youth development program in East Wheeling, West Virginia. Prior to BSM intervention, no helmet use had been observed in the test neighborhood. After a three-week program focusing on safety behaviors and helmet use, students demonstrated significant improvements in knowledge, a positive relationship between skill and knowledge, and nearly 100 percent helmet usage rates. Unfortunately, neighborhood helmet use rates fell to nearly zero after the summer camp was over. The data suggest that helmet use and improved knowledge and skills could become the norm in an inner-city day-camp context, but periodic, model-oriented reinforcement of the BSM is recommended for maintenance of observed knowledge and usage improvements.

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