Helmets.org

Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute

Consumer-funded, volunteer staff

Helmets Children Promotions Statistics Search


Program Information for Organizers
of Bicycle Helmet Campaigns


Summary: This is the introduction to our Toolkit package. We list below a number of contacts for program information we don't have on our website.


We have all of our own materials up on the web on our Toolkit page. But if you need it, we can send by postal mail the 34 page paper version of this document. Along with the paper is a CD with our entire website on it. It duplicates the information from our website pages and may not be quite as up-to-date.

You can also download the .pdf file that we use to print out the Toolkit.

Some people find that they need just our pamphlets on paper to duplicate. We have them in .pdf or Word format for downloading if you want to print them out locally, and here is the page to tell you how. We can also mail you high-resolution printouts (1200x1200 dpi), mailed flat for duplicating, please email us with your postal mailing address. You have our permission to duplicate our pamphlets to hand out if you are a non-profit using them for non-profit use. Others please ask.

We hope that the addresses below will be useful to you.


1. The California Department of Public Health

The California website has a very useful site up with many materials for school-based helmet promotion campaigns. They have lesson plans, PowerPoint presentations and one pamphlet in Spanish.


2. Harborview Injury Prevention Center

Harborview has conducted an active and successful helmet promotion campaign since 1986, with extensive TV coverage and a tie-in to medical research. They distribute a program manual, parts of which are in the printed version of this package. The also have up on the web a spectacular review of medical journal articles on bicycle helmet intervention strategies and a summary of bicycle helmet effectiveness studies.


3. U.S. Department of Transportation

DOT's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has a website up with materials for teaching kids to ride safely. They also have pamphlets, posters and other materials available for campaigns, and classroom materials for teachers. Here is a page describing many of them. Their stuff is all free. When they had printed materials, the quantities were limited and sometimes out of stock, but the online stuff is always there for download. If you want to try for the printed materials you can order online on the NHTSA website or contact Safety Countermeasures Div., NHTSA, Dept. of Transportation, 4700 7th St. SW, Washington, DC 20590-0001, tel. 202-366-5399, fax 202-366-2062.


4. Snell Foundation's Safety Education Center

The Snell Safety Education Center has full color pamphlets, buttons, posters, videos and other helmet promotion materials. Some are available in Spanish as .pdf files. They ask for a small donation for printed materials. You can contact them at Snell Safety Education Center, 3628 Madison Avenue, Suite 11, North Highlands, CA 95660 telephone 916-331-5073. Or by email at info@smf.org.


5. Bicycle Forum

Bicycle Forum (part of Adventure Cycling, formerly Bikecentennial) publishes a magazine and maintains a stock of varied materials for bicycle program organizers. It also produces custom materials such as posters and pamphlets. We have an updated version of their Campaign Guide here. Their address is P.O. Box 8308, Missoula, MT 59807, telephone 406-721-1776.


6. Safe Kids USA

If your campaign focuses on children, you should contact the Safe Kids USA chapter in your area. They conducted a very active bicycle helmet promotion campaign nationwide in 1989, and have a new one that began in May, 2002. They have promotional materials and status reports on mandatory helmet laws, and their coalitions have access to a limited quantity of helmets at low prices, including lots of giveaways in the 2002 campaign. They also have a Cycle Smart ® Program Guide for $110, and a great video. Contact Safe Kids USA, 1301 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 1000, Washington, D.C. 20004-1707, telephone 202-662-0600, fax (202) 393-2072, email info@safekids.org.


7. Phoenix Children's Hospital/Safe Kids of Maricopa County

One of the local Safe Kids campaigns has produced an extensive helmet campaign curriculum, with a box of stuff you can use to get your campaign moving. If you have some funding to spare, check out this page on the Phoenix Children's Hospital/Safe Kids of Maricopa County program materials. In addition to the materials now available they are working on a "Hair Repair Kit" for those who are concerned about "helmet hair."


8. BikeTexas

BikeTexas has a SafeCyclist Curriculum, a comprehensive bicycle and pedestrian safety education curriculum designed for fourth and fifth grade elementary students. Many of their materials are available in Spanish.


9. American Academy of Pediatrics

AAP publishes a Physicians Resource Guide to motivate pediatricians to recommend helmets to parents. They also have pamphlets on child injury topics, including helmets. Their address is AAP, Department of Publications, 141 NW Point Boulevard, P. O. Box 927, Elk Grove Village, IL 60009.


10. American Automobile Association

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has pamphlets, films, booklets, and videos covering a wide range of bicycle safety subjects including helmets. They provide videos and 250 copies of their printed materials for free. Some are in Spanish. AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, 1440 New York Ave NW, STE 201, Washington, D.C. 20005, telephone 202-638-5944.


11. Dartmouth Injury Prevention Resource & Research Center

The Center promotes bicycle safety programs in New Hampshire and works nationally with chapters of the AAP under a mini-grant program. Some of their materials are in the printed version of this packet. Contact Mary Ann O'Connor, Program Director, Injury Prevention Center, Dept. of Maternal and Child Health, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, NH 03756, telephone 603-646-7780.


12. North Carolina Program

For some years now the North Carolina state government has sponsored a program developed in Pitt County which produces materials for helmet promotion programs and distributes those and other materials free to North Carolina residents. Call 919-733-2804. We have a program manual originally produced with their support.


13. Virginia Program

Virginia has a Safe Routes to Schools page with many materials that are available for Virginia organizations. They have a page of yard signs designed for 24 x 18 inches that can also be printed out on standard letter-sized paper or cardboard.


14. Consumer Reports Articles

Consumer Reports has periodic articles on bicycle helmets. We have a review of the latest one up. You can find the article in your local library, or on the Consumers Union website, usually behind a paywall.


15. The Jello Mold

Only your imagination limits you in the use of the famous Jello brain mold, a mold that you fill with gray or pink Jello or another gelatin product to make a model of the brain. You can order one from one of the companies on our gelatin mold page.


Please feel free to contact us further if we can be of help to you in any way.


Sincerely yours,


Randy Swart

Executive Director, BHSI

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