[PHOTOS BY JDN IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

Councilman David G. Greenfield hosted his first annual Midwood bike helmet giveaway in partnership with the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT). After hosting a successful giveaway in Boro Park last fall, Greenfield brought representatives from the DOT back to his district to provide the same services and equipment to residents of Midwood at Friends Field this past Sunday.

Over the course of three hours, over 800 bike helmets were fitted and given away to children and adults. Representatives from the DOT who are experts on street and bike safety set up shop at Friends Field to meet with each helmet recipient individually, ensuring that every child and adult’s helmet was properly fitted to their head and to answer any questions about riding a bike safely.

“As the school year is coming to a close and summer is approaching, children and families are eager to get out of the house and ride their bikes. It’s important to make sure that while we’re having fun, we’re doing so safely and taking every precaution to reduce the risk of serious injury,” said Councilman Greenfield. “It was a pleasure to see so many families come out this past Sunday to promote bicycle safety be picking up a free helmet. This was such a great success that I hope to turn this into an annual event.”

Councilman Greenfield has long encouraged the use of bike helmets on a citywide basis, including the introduction of a bill last year which would mandate the use of bike helmets by cyclists of all ages in New York City. The proposed legislation was based on the overwhelming evidence that helmets reduce the chance of death or serious injury by as much as 85 percent. In addition, statistics show that more than 90 percent of cyclists who were killed while riding a bike were not wearing a helmet at the time. Currently, helmets are required by city law for children ages 13 or younger and for all commercial cyclists.