Was almost in tears this morning when i read The Star front page that reported about a 11 year old boy killed in an accident while cycling to school in Perak.
1st thing that went through my mind was : what if the boy had worn a helmet when riding to school. This is because the paper reported that the boy died due to serious head injury.
Could the helmet had helped ?? I am not a doctor, neither am i an expert but could the helmet had given him a better chance ??
I will talk to our chairman and see how G Club with the help of members create an awareness campaign to all schools about cycling safety. Maybe we could ask the school to make it compulsory for their student who cycle to school to wear a helmet and have proper lighting as some of them will cycle to school while it is still dark.
I am sure there are so many things that can be done.
Any suggestion welcomed and see where we can take it from here.
just received a sms from my mobile about a unconfirmed report that a German cyclist tourist was killed in Teluk Bahang today.
a hit and run case !!!!
to all cyclist out there, please ride with care and be alert while riding on the road. Not here to scare any of you but better to be safe than sorry.
Always wear a helmet and have proper lightings even during the day if possible.
was told this afternoon that another accident involving a boy.
apparently he was hit by a car from behind and was seriously injured while cycling in the late evening.
when probed, he was not wearing a helmet, no head light and neither was there any rear light / blinkers.
we really need to do something to create awareness that helmet, head / rear lights are really something that cyclist cannot take for granted.
Recall during younger days (if not mistaken), lights generated by dynamo came standard with all bikes. Now they are accessories. Maybe the awareness can start at the bike shop, especially to new purchasers the importance of helmet, lights, reflectors. And it can be 'packaged' up as a 'safety kit'.
Found 2 more letters wirtten to The Star pertaining the accident in Ipoh.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/4/focus/5606297&sec=focus
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/5/focus/5615000&sec=focus
If any of you have any suggestions, please forward to us. We shall bring this up during our next committee meeting.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Read with interests the letters written. I think it is a very good project and we shud embarked on it. We cud enlist the help from various organisations to secure 6 DYNAMIC students from say 10 schools, that wud make up 60 safety campagin AMBASSADORS who cud then go back to their school to motivate the rest of the students. I noticeD the Rotary club of Kinta's letter mentioned that they distributeD free vests but no one wears it. If we were to distribute free helmwts and rear lights, there shud be a mechanism to follow thru' i.e we hv to ensure that these helmets are not used to scoop sand at Ferringhi beach and the rear lights are not used as a Chinese New Year lighting decoration !!!
I really can't sleep after I read that incident in the front page of newspaper,I still remember I read that paper in Starbucks and started wondering around for the whole day.Did he wear a helmet?? or else how the world that he could get a serious head injuries and died on the spot.
Duncan,I am even worst,I cycle to my nearest bicycle shop,even it is just less than 1km away,my helmet must be in my head.I also feel the same feeling even trying cycling out of house not wearing a helmet.It is also a very good thing that we all have this feeling.
cheers
seng chiang
I shared the same grief as Captain when learned about this sad news from the paper, more depressing after seeing the picture, showing the litta body still with his school bag clinching at his back ... From the picture, the sky is still dark, the boy's bicycle is not equipped with lights and the road is narrow, to add more 'what if' in addition to 'wearing helmet' as suggested by Captain, like reflection vest, tail and head lights, this tragedy could have been avoided ?
Yesterday afternoon I cycled my bike to a neighbouring 7-11, it is just a short 2 km distance, half way I realised I forgot to wear my helmet, then I began to feel uneasy and guilty as if I am breaking the law. Consciously, wearing helmet has been a must-do in my before cycle checklist, I guess this is because I heard and witnessed incidents, which educated me the safty of cycling on the road.
For that, I am very much support what Captain has proposed. We could have posters which illustrate the basic must have safety and visibility on the road gears, to be distributed to the schools or organize road safety campaign etc etc.
It's difficult, Duncan. It's the local people's mentality. I live in Balik Pulau and you cannot ever imagine parents carrying their children to school on motorbikes, sometimes even two at a time, with bulging schoolbags on their backs. And you'll find it even harder to believe that sometimes a little toddler follows along, sitting on the front basket of the bike. And you've guessed it - all without helmets!
Then in the evening, you will see children, some as young as 10 years old, three on a bike, riding their parents'/elder siblings' MOTORCYCLES all around the kampung. And yes, all WITHOUT helmets.
What more buying helmets, tail and head lights, vests, etc for their bicycle school going children? It's the sad fact of our Malaysian life. The Govt does not care about these people. Even if there are laws, as there are for motorcyclists, the authorities will always close one eye and not apprehend them. Everybody will buat tak tahu until an accident happens.
But it is good that G Club members are proactive and are trying so hard to educate the public on safety while cycling on the road. Yes, my wife won't let me leave home on two wheels without my helmet too, even if it is for a short journey to the neighbourhood kopi-o shop. Better safe than sorry, right?
Happy Cycling!
Lazy Rider, i agree with you that these people just don't care or couldn't bother at all.
I know about law enforcement here and i past by Tg Tokong police station on average twice a day. You can see bikers riding pass the front door of the police station without helmet. Worse, those coming out from police quarters (i.e. family members of police personnel) also not wearing one when going in and out.
But this should not stop us from creating awareness about safety in particular while riding a bicycle. Since it is not against the law to ride without one, we should encourage / make aware / explain to them, especially kids. Probably it's harder to talk to "old birds" as the saying goes, you cannot teach old dog new tricks !!
Imagine if our campaign is successful and there happen to be an accident and the kid was saved because he was wearing a helmet or have proper lighting, i think the feeling is better than striking 4D !!! You could sit back and tell yourself you had done your part and saved a life !!
On the other hand, how would you feel if another kid got killed and you kept asking yourself "what if........ " we cannot save the whole world but we certainly cannot give up hope for trying.
My 2 cents on this whole safety awareness campaign / project which i hope all G Club members will support or help in any way.
In view of the poor awareness of road safety concept among children and parents, I strongly agreed with Captain and Tony aka lazyrider to embark on Road Safety Campaign for Children. We hv the fund to do it but as usual we need an organising chairman to lead and we hv all agreed to nominate captain for the next workshop slotted in May / june. Hope we can all give our support to him
I also support... I think he's the perfect person to champion this workshop.
Dear Dr,
I am completely agreeable for this new project !
This is such a nice idea to promote" a road safety compaign by G-club" ,and
I would like to support a nomination of Captain as a chairman of this aggressive project.
We need to do something to improve a present situation in Penang, in Malaysia.
Besides ,for any action for improvement, we need to have someone who can raise
a hand, as well as a good number of good understanding supporters .
This is a principle of modern society. and we wish to follow this principle. Susumu