As kids grab their scooters and bikes to embark on summertime adventures, bike instructors with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office are providing an opportunity for youth to not only improve their biking skills, but gain a better understanding of the rules of the road.
The sheriff’s office has partnered with the Douglas County School District to host the county’s first Eye-Five Transportation and Road safety event from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on July 19 at Mountain Vista High School, located at 10585 Mountain Vista Ridge, in Highlands Ranch.
It doesn’t matter if a child is learning how to ride a bike for the first time or looking to improve their skills, the free event is open to children of all ages. They just need to bring their helmet, bike, ebike, scooter, electric scooter or whatever they use to get around.
The event will include “bumps and jumps and all that fun stuff,” said Deputy Jeffrey Cislo. “But what we’re trying to really get them to do is understand crosswalks and sidewalks.”
Cislo, who is the school resource officer for Mountain Vista High School, is one of four bike instructors with the sheriff’s office. The event will be led by a number of school resource officers who are also certified by the International Police Mountain Bike Association.
The event will include a variety of food trucks, and information booths set up by South Metro Fire Rescue, the Highlands Ranch Park Rangers and local bike shops to provide more information on trail and road safety.
Another partner is Gary Robinson, co-founder of Avid Cyclists, which is an online resource for cyclists. Robinson has partnered with the sheriff’s office at multiple community events over the past year advocating for stronger relationships between motorists and cyclists after he was hit by a vehicle and nearly lost his life on Founders Parkway in Castle Rock last year.
The need for this event
Following the death of Alex Mackiewicz, a 13-year-old who was on his way to school when he was struck by a vehicle while crossing Venneford Ranch at Highlands Ranch Parkway, Cislo and Deputy Mark Adams began having conversations on starting a safety program.
Other intersections of concern include Wildcat Reserve Parkway and Monarch Bouelvard, Broadway and Highlands Ranch Parkway, Lincoln Avenue and South Quebec Street.
“I mean, any intersection in Highlands Ranch,” Cislo said.
Cislo said there have been too many close calls concerning safety, especially with the growing popularity of electric-powered scooters and bikes.
“I think we’ve kind of failed as a community in educating the kids on bike safety,” said Cislo. “Kids that have really no sense of road safety are driving higher-speed bikes and scooters now.”
While looking for ways to push the program forward, Cislo and Adams came across Colorado Safe Routes to Schools, a program administered by the Colorado Department of Transportation. The program aims to make walking and biking to school safer and more accessible by working with school districts and community members.
It was by chance that the Douglas County School District was also having conversations with Colorado Safe Routes to Schools, so the school district and sheriff’s office decided to come together to put on the Eye-Five event.
“Essentially, it’s a virtual high five,” said Cislo. “You get to a crosswalk, you’re making eye contact with drivers and hopefully those drivers are making eye contact with you.”
Learning valuable skills
In addition to learning to always wear a properly-fit helmet, ride in the same direction as traffic and other basic skills, children will be able to learn the rules of the road by navigating various courses.
For younger children, Adams, who is the school resource officer at Chaparral High School in Parker, said it will be about understanding balance and how to maneuver their bikes by using strider bikes, which have no pedals.
There will also be beginner and intermediate courses for pedal bikes that include obstacles like ramps and curbs.
“Kids tend to get a little brave and want to jump off curbs … but we’re going to try to show them some safer ways to either ascend or descend curbs,” Adams said.
However, the main focus will be on crosswalks and the importance of using both sight and sound to be aware of traffic.
One of the stations will include a speed demonstration. A cop car will go past a stop sign going 20 miles per hour, then 30, then 40 to show what the varying levels of speed look and sound like. They will also demonstrate what a complete stop looks like.
Using a handful of big toy control cars and Jeeps that remote control for cross traffic and crosswalk signs built by Colorado Road and Bridge, there will be an example intersection where the children can learn when it is safe to cross.
“Just because that little walking guy (on the crosswalk signal) turned white, you still have to take a second, look both ways, then go,” said Cislo. “Make sure cars aren’t blowing (through) the stop lights.”
Cislo and Adams hope to host this event twice a year – once when school gets out for summer break and another when children go back to school. They also hope to expand the course and concepts to high school students for when they begin to drive.
“The main thing is, just be safe, be cognizant, don’t get distracted with any kind of mobile device and just pay attention to who else you are sharing the road with,” Adams said.
Register for the event at dcsheriff.net/eye-five-event/.