Free BMX stunt show, Bike Safety Rally Saturday

(ROCKWALL, TX — Sept. 22, 2016) Local youth are invited to witness a free BMX stunt show and strap on their helmets for a lesson or two in bike safety at the Bike Safety Saturday event at Billie Stevenson Elementary School on Saturday, Sept. 24, from 9:30 a.m. to noon.

The event will feature an amazing BMX stunt show performed twice and a safety ride where kids will receive a Fate DPS escort through the Woodcreek neighborhood. Fate DPS will also provide a bicycle registration system where kids can have a registration sticker put on their bike, which will help point law enforcement in the right direction in case the bike is ever lost or stolen. Each kid who goes through the event’s stations will receive a raffle ticket for a chance to win some awesome prizes, including a brand new bicycle.

Folks in attendance can also enjoy free hot dogs while receiving information on bike safety and proper helmet fitting, and can have their helmets inspected for proper fit at the helmet fitting station. Those who show up without a helmet can receive one for free from nine-year-old Gage Duke and his nonprofit organization, “Just Cuz Helmets Matter,” which stemmed from a bicycle accident that killed his cousin Allen Hall in 2012. Gage, who was in Kindergarten at the time, noticed some of the kids who rode their bikes to school didn’t have helmets and wanted to give them one in hopes of preventing a tragic accident like the one which took his cousin’s life.

With the help of a school resource officer, Gage hosted a bicycle safety event in 2014 and then a bike rodeo in 2015, where he gave out bags with information on bike safety, checked helmets for proper fitting and gave out free helmets to those who didn’t have one.

Gage’s mom Laine said the bike safety event this year will focus on getting bicycle riders to wear a helmet each and every time they ride.

“This year’s BMX stunt show is really aimed at driving home the message: you’ve got the helmet, now you need to wear it every time,” Laine said. “We’ve seen that giving the helmets away for free is great, but if we can’t get the riders to wear them every time they ride, then we’re not meeting Gage’s goal!”

For more information visit justcuzhelmetsmatter.org.

By Austin Wells, Blue Ribbon News editor. Photos courtesy of Laine Duke.