Wendel Lee Craig Urquhart. John Nicholson. Both bicyclists died in Fayetteville last year after being hit by cars, according to police reports and WRAL. 

In 2023, the most recent year with data, Cumberland County saw 15 bicyclist crashes. All were non-fatal. About 20 bicyclists die every year in North Carolina, according to the North Carolina Department of Transportation. One in six of them are less than 16 years old. 

NCDOT’s Bicycle Helmet Initiative is trying to put a small dent in those numbers and Cumberland County organizations are encouraged to join the effort.

The annual initiative provides nonprofit and government organizations free bicycle helmets to pass out to low-income children 17 years old and younger. Organizations can request 25, 50, 75 or 100 helmets ranging in sizes from toddler to youth large.

In addition to passing out helmets, the initiative requires selected organizations and/or partner organizations to provide a bicycle safety education program for the kids receiving the helmets. An example is the state’s pedestrian and bicycle safety education program, whose lessons emphasize the importance of wearing a properly fitted helmet and other safety gear while biking.

“We hope the Bicycle Helmet Initiative will help reduce bicycle injuries and raise awareness about the importance of safe bicycling practices,” Brennon Fuqua, NCDOT’s Division Integrated Mobility director, wrote in a press release about this year’s open application to the initiative. The division is responsible for improving the state’s pedestrian, bicycle and public transportation.

In a crash, helmets reduce the odds of a bicyclist getting traumatic brain injury by over 50% and dying by 44%, according to a study published in The American Journal of Surgery. However, a study out of UNC-Chapel Hill’s Highway Safety Research Center found only about 24% of the state’s bicyclists wear helmets.

Six- to 18-year-olds were even less likely to wear a helmet while biking. This comes despite North Carolina law making it illegal for guardians to knowingly allow a child under 16 to bike without a helmet.

The Cumberland County Department of Public Health and The Healthy Child & Adolescent Network, a Fayetteville-based nonprofit that provides bikes and life skills training to at-risk youth, were among last year’s local helmet recipients. The public health department and the network each received 75 helmets.

In the last five years, the initiative has provided over 75,000 free bike helmets across the state. Federal transportation dollars and sales of the state’s “Share the Road” license plate pay for the helmets.

The public health department is again applying to hand out 75 helmets this year. Organizations interested in participating in the initiative can apply on NCDOT’s website. All applications must be submitted by Feb. 14 at 5 p.m.

CityView Reporter Morgan Casey is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Morgan’s reporting focuses on health care issues in and around Cumberland County and can be supported through the CityView News Fund.