Community Traffic Safety
Grant Programs
Site visits are continuing as we enter summer months. Many grantees are utilizing slightly better weather to host events. Recent visits that have taken place include Bend and Ontario. In Bend Kate Murphy, Community Traffic Safety Program Coordinator, volunteered for a day of bike safety education. In Ontario she assisted at the Malheur County Kids Fair. Both visits were great opportunities to witness and partake in successful events.
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In Bend the grantee is Commute Options of Central Oregon. Jeff Monson the executive director applied for a Bicycle Safety Mini-Grant in order to purchase a trailer. The trailer is used to haul their bike fleet around to local elementary schools to teach bike safety. In addition the trailer is going to be used for bike safety presentations in the community. |
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During her visit Kate assisted Beth Brady with a day of bicycle safety classes. The curriculum was taught to several audiences of fifth graders from Lava Ridge Elementary. Beth teaches six classes a day for five days. On the fifth day she leads the bike safety classes on a community ride. This is not only an opportunity for students to test their newly acquired skills, but for friends and family to come along and see what they have learned. The program is well received by the students and brings a valuable element of safety into the community.
The Malheur County Kids Fair brought several elements of safety to the community as well. At the fair Kate manned a couple of different stations. She spent the first few hours working the child passenger safety booth that showcased the convincer. The convincer is a mechanism that demonstrates the power of a seatbelt. For each showing the machine lunges two separate times in a downhill motion. The first time the passenger, which in this case was a large stuffed bunny, travels unrestrained. The audience witnesses the bunny being flung from his seat.
| Another station that Kate assisted with was the bike rodeo. This was an incredibly successful event at the fair. Parents and children were greeted with goody bags full of safety tips and resources. Parents signed permission slips and sent their children on to be properly fitted for a helmet that they were able to take home. Once appropriately outfitted with a helmet the children sat in on a bike safety orientation presented by Rodeo Ranger Dave. He talked about proper hand signals and crosswalk etiquette for cyclists. The children then lined up to take their turn navigating through the bike course. The bike rodeo could not have been as successful without the help of volunteers. |  |
Thank you to Dave Stiefvater, Sheri Smith, Helen Dickinson, Kristi Harris, The Knights of Columbus, and everyone else that contributed. Great effort by all!
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The bike rodeo was partially funded by a Bicycle Safety Mini-Grant that helped Dave purchase the helmets distributed. Angela Livas the Kids Fair coordinator is supported by way of a Building Safer Communities Mini-Grant. She applied for funds in order to create her position. A stipulation of the grant however, is that she seek funding sources to sustain the position for fairs in the future. She has done an excellent job pulling in several community businesses. Angela has been a catalyst in bringing safety messages to Ontario and other communities in Malheur County. Congratulations to both Dave and Angela for being such dedicated safety advocates. |
