GRANDVILLE, Mich. — Officers with the Wyoming Department of Public Safety will be joining Grandville Police, the Kent County Sheriff's Office and Walker Police for their second annual bike rodeo this weekend.
Those departments will be teaching children how to ride a bike safely as well as offering a basic bike helmet safety check. There will also be free ice cream, giveaways and other fun activities for kids.
The goal is to make sure everyone plays safely this summer.
"It's really important that the kids know how to navigate around traffic and hopefully stay out of traffic, and that the drivers are also aware that the kiddos are going to start coming out and to be aware that they're going to be around," said Renee Veldman, Deputy Chief of Grandville Police.
Officers and deputies will be showing kids how to maneuver their bikes and watch for traffic while they're riding.
"We'll have some of these signs out and some other little things to maneuver around so that they'll get the hang of stopping quickly and scanning and looking for traffic," Veldman said. "We're going to use some tennis balls as some fake rocks, that they'll have to maneuver around so that they can do that safely. They get some practice. There'll be the police officers will be out there and show them how to do it. And it'll be a great community event."
The bike rodeo is Saturday, April 29 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at RiverTown Crossings mall in the Dick's Sporting Goods parking lot.
It is free and open to families with children under 10 years old.
If it rains, the bike rodeo will still go on, but will move to the lower level of the parking structure.
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