About 100 kids saddled up on June 18 for a bike rodeo at Hillcrest Park in Winterville, where ECU Health Injury Prevention Program team members, Safe Kids Pitt County, Winterville Safe Routes to School, the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NDCOT) and HBCU Coalition of Pitt County teamed up to teach them essential bicycle safety skills and provide protective equipment.
Cycle and Serve, an all-ages bike rodeo, equipment giveaway and service event provided kids with free helmets, reflective gear and other safety equipment. Kids also had the chance to hone their critical cycling safety skills. Courses were set up to teach them braking, turn signaling, how to react to traffic signage and how to safely navigate obstacles like ramps or debris.
“Wearing a properly fitted helmet is one of the most effective ways to reduce the risk of serious head injury during a crash,” said Ellen Walston, injury prevention program coordinator and Safe Kids Pitt County coordinator at ECU Health. “We are so grateful for the opportunity to educate kids of all ages about cycling and connect them with local partners and resources who put safety first. Keeping our roads safe is everyone’s responsibility, and the skills our participants learned today will play an important role in keeping them safe and healthy on their bicycles.”
Learning bicycle safety is a key step to prevent injury. According to NCDOT data, there were 1,011 crashes involving bicyclists in 2025, the second year in a row with over 1,000 such crashes statewide. About 40% of the 2025 crashes resulted in suspected minor injuries and three percent were fatal.
Along with properly fitted helmets and reflective gear, Walston recommend bicyclists wear bright colored clothing and ride in the same direction as the flow of traffic. She said kids should ride their bikes on sidewalks when possible and that cyclists should always remain aware of their surroundings.