Police Brush Up on Cycling Skills

Course helps officers teach kids bike safety

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By Heather Hintze
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Story Created: Jul 20, 2012 at 8:53 AM AKDT

Story Updated: Jul 20, 2012 at 8:53 AM AKDT

ANCHORAGE - Bike safety is important for kids to learn at a young age, that's why Anchorage police officers are brushing up on their own cycling skills.

Thursday nine officers and a few community members participated in a bike instructor program funded by "Safe Routes to Schools."

It's part of a 25-hour course the ultimately teaches officers how to teach kids about cycling safety and rules of the road.

Officers say with more people using bikes to commute to school or work – it's important to get safety messages to kids when they're young.

"There's the bicycle safety piece that we've been talking about, but it's just good for officers to be with kids doing stuff that's not confrontational, and they get to see the police in a different light when they're young than when they see them on television and that sort of thing,” said Anchorage Police Chief Mark Mew.

Over the past few years the number of bicycle versus vehicle crashes has gone down.

APD reports there were 120 collisions in 2010, 77 in 2011, and so far this year there have been 33 crashes.
 

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mikey372002 said on Friday, Jul 20 at 9:16 AM

Its just not kids, Most Kids are smarter then adults and it shows when you see the adults blowing through a stop sign on a bike, I have seen what my truck can do to a bike, so i know a stupid adult will look no better when being run over , stop signs are for everyone, bikes included.

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