Middle School Helmet Safety Program A program designed to increase the helmet use of middle school aged students developed as a partnership with the FDOT Safety Office

Safety is Important Per capita bicycle deaths in Florida are more than twice the national average Florida leads the nation in bicycle fatalities Middle School aged students have the highest rate of fatality and injury crashes 60% of bicycle related deaths and 2/3 of bicycle related hospital admissions are due to head injuries

Some Facts Helmets are 85% effective in preventing head injuries At some Florida middle schools we have found that as few as 3% of the students riding to school wear a helmet We have often seen students riding bikes with the helmet hanging on the handle bars When helmets are worn, they are frequently unbuckled or the straps are very loose

The School Bicycle Safety Program Students selected to participate as a school Bicycle Safety Patrol are trained by the School Resource Officer (SRO) on how to observe and identify key safety behaviors of student bicyclists as they travel to and from school Because this component involves collecting and graphing data, the SRO may choose to have a math or science teacher supervise these activities

THE PROGRAM Step 1: Measure Helmet Use Grade 8 students are enlisted to make up the school bicycle helmet safety patrol Students are taught to score helmet usage and whether the helmets are worn correctly Students score behaviors at the end of the school day The SRO assigns students certain days to score usage and meets with them periodically to keep them motivated

Students Can Possibly be Provided Special Shirts by Local Sponsors

Students are Given Easy to Use Scoring Sheets

The SRO Meets Frequently with the Student Patrol Members

Students who record data are given a certificate for Community Service hours at the end of the school year

How Well Do Students Measure Behavior? At the pilot schools, they were highly accurate in measuring helmet use and whether the helmet was correctly worn Accuracy was determined by having two youths measure the behavior together and calculating the percentage of agreement between the two Reliability was also computed between the students and research assistants

THE PROGRAM Step 2: Kick Off Presentation on Bicycle Safety by the SRO who: Initiates the program at an assembly by making a presentation on bicycle safety Shows a short movie on how to fit a bicycle helmet Moderates a discussion on bicycle safety, which includes setting target goals Identifies students without helmets, provides helmets (when available) and helps fit helmets Oversees the program

Making the Presentation

Explaining Feedback Posters

Teaching a patrol member how to fit a helmet

Bicycle Safety Patrol Helps Also

Step 3: Feedback on Progress Following the presentation by the SRO the school bicycle safety patrol (students that record data) post the average daily student performance for each target behavior on a large chart inside the school entrance A weekly announcement on Monday morning provides feedback on the level of behaviors attained the previous week, praising improvements, and prompting compliance for the current week (SRO or students make announcements)

Results are Posted in Prominent Campus Locations Before After

Step 4: Rewards Shared rewards for group performance tends to facilitate cohesiveness among members of the group Rewards will include praise from the staff and SRO; an ice cream party or a pizza party at the end of the project with donated prizes and a drawing for a bicycle

Celebrating Success

We Have A Winner!! (Note: he only posed for the photo but did not ride the bike until he had his helmet properly secured!)

Results The program produced a large increase in helmet use and correct helmet use in all three schools The program produced the largest increase in the two schools with a history of helmet enforcement Helmet enforcement alone did not get helmet use in the target group The program without enforcement (one school) was effective but did not get helmet use in the target group

Other Positive Results Probe data taken by research assistants showed that helmet use also increased in the morning even though data was not collected by students in the AM Probe data showed that students did not take their helmet off a quarter mile to a half mile from the school The results persisted after the party was over