Bike Smart Virginia Schools

Bike Smart Virginia Schools is a collaborative project with the Virginia Departments of Education, Health and Motor Vehicles and the non-profit organization, Bike Walk Virginia.

80% of childhood bike-related fatalities are due to the rider's error. Bike Smart, Virginia Schools! teaches children safe biking behavior in an effort to reduce the numbers for injuries and fatalities. This is accomplished by having a unit of on-the bike instruction (including: helmet safety, crash avoidance, bike handling skills, rules of the road etc.) as part of the school's Health and P.E. curriculum.

Bicycle Safety Programs have been adopted as part of the Health and Physical Education Curriculum in one or more schools in the following school districts:

To ensure that students are taught current safety information and riding techniques, all teachers instructing bike safety as part of their health and physical education curriculum are encouraged to complete the Bike Smart Basics training.

Bike Smart Basics Training

Bike Smart Basics is a two-day hands-on training (12 hours) that is primarily focused on teaching bicycle safety and bicycle maintenance for bike safety programs in elementary, middle or high schools. Participants will practice teachable skills and teaching rubrics to gain ideas and methods to develop or enhance their bike safety program.

Requirements necessary to conduct a training are:

• Minimum of 5 and Maximum of 15 participants
• Course must occur during two consecutive days resulting in 12 hours of instruction time
• Participants must each have a working bicycle and helmet
• Preferred location is at a school with a classroom for lecture and an open field or parking lot for the on-the-bike lessons

Course Providers and Contact Information

Heather Board, 804-864-7738
heather.board@vdh.virginia.gov