By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
MARGATE – The Margate Police Department partnered with the Margate schools Friday, June 3 to teach children about the rules of the road when they are riding their bicycles. The annual event is designed to improve safety, especially during the summer months when there are literally hundreds of bicycles on the streets of the resort town.
William H. Ross Elementary School Principal Bonnie Marino said the program not only teaches children how to be safe on the road, but also helps the fourth graders with their transition to the Eugene A. Tighe Middle School in the fall.
“We want our fourth graders to get comfy going to Tighe,” she said.
The end of the school year includes lots of fun events for students in the city’s schools.
“It’s great that the rodeo is being held a day after their class trip to Cold Spring Village. It’s the first time these students have been on a field trip since they were in kindergarten due to the pandemic,” she said.
Students rotated between stations set up in the Tighe School parking lot to practice weaving through obstacles, register their bicycles, get a tune-up courtesy of Margate Bike Shop, and learn the rules of the road from Margate City Police Officer R. Krause.
Officers recorded bicycle serial numbers and placed a registration sticker in an inconspicuous spot on each bicycle. Krause instructed students to obey all bicycle laws, ride with the flow of traffic, keep to the right, signal for turns, and avoid swerving and making sudden moves that could distract a driver.
“I learned you can get severely hurt if you don’t wear a helmet,” fourth grader Dylan Parto said.
Students also learned about the “sharrows” painted on cross-town streets, instructing travelers to “share the road.”
“Stay as far right as you can to share the road with cars,” Krause instructed. “And don’t be unpredictable in your riding, so you don’t alarm motorists.”
“I learned that you shouldn’t ride you bike without using your hands, and don’t get distracted when you ride, like if you take your eyes off the road,” Raffaele Rosenfelt said. “Also, you have to stop at all red lights and stop signs.”
Afterward, students received a police escort on their ride to Margate City Fire Station No. 1 on Washington and Ventnor avenues, where they toured the firehouse and Margate Historical Society Museum. They then traveled to the playground across from the Police Department on Decatur Avenue where they enjoyed pizza for lunch.
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