Being a volunteer is easy. Everything you'll need to know is included here. As a PTA volunteer, you'll be assigned a station and task. You can read more about your station on the following pages. You don't need to read everything. However, if you're familiar with what's happening at the other bike safety stations you'll be better able to fill in for other volunteers who are unable to attend this activity.

This event is the third part of a Bicycling Life Skills unit. The kids have already talked about bike safety and seen videotape lessons in the classroom. In this exercise, the children get to practice skills that can help prevent the most common types of accidents for young cyclists. Nationally, cyclists under 16 are involved in 30 to 40% of the injuries and deaths in car/bike collisions. Most of these are caused by cyclist error. In California, car/bike collisions are the fifth leading cause of death for children under 15. Practicing safe riding skills can save lives and teaches lifelong traffic safety habits. Teaching kids to check their helmets for proper fit is important in reducing the severity of head injuries if crashes do occur.

Each station has a station leader and several PTA volunteers. Ordinarily, a member of the Palo Alto Fire Department and an officer from the Traffic Division of the Palo Alto Police Department as well as the teachers serve as station leaders. In addition, members of the Stanford Cycling Club are usually present to demonstrate what the children will do during their skills drill. The Palo Alto Medical Foundation provides personnel to check helmet fit.

The five bike safety stations are listed below. Information about what the station teaches, why it's important and instructions for both the station leader and volunteers are included on separate pages.

• Station 1 Controlled Riding, Right Turn and Stop
  Children focus on riding without swerving, learning how to break properly, checking for cross traffic and communicating with other road users by hand signals. Young cyclists often ride unpredictably and assume that cars can always see and avoid them.
   
  
• Station 2 Scanning and Moving Left
  Students learn to scan behind for traffic over their left shoulder before turning or moving left. According to the CSAA, cyclists moving left without yielding to cars cause 15% of all bicycle/car crashes resulting in injury or death. These cyclists have a median age of 13.
   
  
• Station 3 Intersections, Yielding and Eye Contact
  Kids practice basic intersection yielding rules with and without stop signs. They also learn how to confirm that a driver is going to yield before entering an intersection at which they have the right of way. According to the CSAA, failure to yield at stop signs causes 10% of the injuries and 8% of the deaths in bicycle/car crashes. These cyclists have a median age of 12.
   
  
• Station 4 Driveway Yielding
  Children practice basic yielding to cross traffic when exiting a driveway. According to the CSAA, 15% of all bicycle/car crashes that result in injury or death are caused by darting out of driveways, sidewalks or between parked cars without yielding. These cyclists have a median age of 11.
   
  
• Station 5 Checking Helmet Fit
  Third graders can learn to check that their helmets fit — snug, level and low on the forehead — every time they ride. Most kids this age can also learn to adjust sliders and chin straps.

Students tend listen better if you can make direct eye contact with them. Still, if you're located at a station facing the sun, you'll want to remember to bring your sunglasses.

Most kids don't or won't share bicycles. If they do, they should be spaced between other cyclists since switching riders often takes time that can be better spent practicing skills. Both the controlled riding and scanning stations allow riders to stream through the course. Proper pacing allows the kids to get more skills practice and stay focused on the lesson.

Use positive feedback to keep weaker riders engaged. Children with little cycling experience will improve dramatically with confidence building guidance. For hotshots and show-offs, emphasize that they need to show good control, not speed as part of the lesson. If they master the station quickly, praise them and make it a bit more challenging.

Details about specific tasks are listed on the pages describing to each station. If you are unsure of what to do, don't be afraid to speak up and ask either the station leader or the PTA coordinator for help.