4/25/2006 5:31:00 PM City giving away free bike helmets
By Barney Burke
Leader Staff Writer
Whether or not you support the City of Port Townsend's ordinance requiring the use of bike helmets by July 2007, you can get a free bike helmet from the city.
Thanks to grant funds being passed through from the Emergency Medical Services Council of Kitsap County, the city is able to give away as many as 50 helmets a week, said Julie Mathews, a volunteer community life safety officer with East Jefferson Fire Rescue.
The helmets are available in a variety of child and adult sizes, but all of the helmets are blue, said Mathews. There are no requirements pertaining to age, place of residence, or income, she said.
To get a helmet, contact either Mathews at 344-4609 or Port Townsend Police Officer Tony Polizzi at 385-2322 to make an appointment, which includes a fitting.
Helmets are also being made available at the Farmers Market in Port Townsend's uptown neighborhood beginning this Saturday, April 29, said Mathews. In addition, the city is planning to give away helmets at Hadlock Days, July 7-9, and the Jefferson County Fair, Aug. 10-13.
As an additional means of encouraging youths to wear bike helmets, Subway sandwich shop on Water Street has donated coupons for free sandwiches. The plan is for officers to be able to give out coupons to youths who wear bike helmets, said Polizzi.
Councilor Laurie Medlicott, who along with Frank Benskin and Geoff Masci is part of the council's Public Safety Committee, said she is proud of the efforts by Subway as well as police and fire officials to encourage bicycle safety. She is disappointed that controversy over the city helmet law seems to have stalled efforts by the Nonmotorized Transportation Advisory Board to launch a bicycle safety education program.
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