There will be no more excuses for Tingha children riding their bikes unprotected, with each Tingha Public School student leaving with a brand new helmet on Tuesday, December 12.
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“You see it everyday, kids after school down the street with no helmets on,” Aboriginal community liaison officer Matt Cutmore said.
Senior Constable Howard Jones said the issue had been a constant concern during his two years in Tingha.
“We can’t give them infringement notices because generally they’re all under the age of 14. There’s no other legal sanction provided, other than to give warnings all the time,” he said.
With the most common explanation from children that they didn’t own a helmet, Mr Cutmore approached Regional Australia Bank to change this.
A $200 grant from the bank and another 30 helmets purchased by Armajun Aboriginal Health Service ensured every student was covered.
“It was something that we thought - safety and education - definitely something we wanted to be a part of,” Regional Australia Bank member relationship officer Kylie Taylor said.
“Having kids myself, I know how good it is for safety. It’s great to know that kids that may not get the opportunity to have a helmet, now will have that. There’s no excuse for not being safe.”
Senior Constable Jones warned police will be less lenient in future, and told the children that if they are discovered riding helmet-less, their bike will be confiscated for up to two weeks.
He talked to the children about how they can stay safe on the road and reminded them to keep their helmets strapped on.
Peter Weidemann brought his motorcycle along. He told the children that a helmet had recently saved a friend’s life after the rider crashed and hit his head on a rock.
“The police don’t do this for their sake. They’re not going out to try and catch naughty kids so they can take their bikes and go home and ride it themselves,” he said.
“They’re actually doing it for you. It’s going to be your head that cracks open like an egg on the ground.”
School principal Melinda Partridge said she hoped the new helmets and risk of losing their bikes would help change the children’s attitudes towards bike safety.
“They do know what they should be doing, so hopefully they can put that into action,” she said.
“Hearing stories of people that they do know that have had injuries, and only just recently, brings it home.”