Hoquiam Fire and Police responded to a bicyclist down on the sidewalk on Adams Street off Chenault Ave on Tuesday, June 26, 2018 at 1511 hours. The 10-year old girl had suffered obvious head trauma and was transported from the scene to the hospital by HFD ambulance.

In talking with the other children in the area, the girl was riding down the hill on Chenault when she tried to turn onto Adams Street, but apparently was going too fast. The bike hit the curb which vaulted the child into the nearby fence.

The girl was not wearing a bike helmet.

The babysitter indicated she had told to the children to wear a helmet, but as officers are seeing all too often on the summer streets this year, children are leaving them at home.

The girl is expected to recover and did not appear to suffer a brain injury. It has only been less than two weeks since the HPD "Bike Rodeo" at Central Elementary where our bike patrol officers taught bike safety and emphasized the importance of wearing a bike helmet.

This is the second major child bike collision where neither child was wearing a bike helmet.

We are very thankful both children will be okay.

Families in Hoquiam who cannot afford a bike helmet can contact our Crime Watch volunteers to get a free, fitted bike helmet for their child. However, as we talk to kids on the street, more often than not they have a helmet, just choose not to use it.

In the City of Hoquiam, bike helmets are REQUIRED for all persons under the age of 18. It is the law and it makes sense. This is a parental responsibility ordinance and requires parents to make sure their children have a helmet and use it.

Officers will be contacting children without helmets and sending them home with a flyer for their parents about the law and bike helmets.

Please help us out and make sure your kids have a helmet and they use it. We want bike riding to be a safe and positive experience; our officers don't like having to stop and talk to kids for this reason, so please do the right thing- wear a helmet!

You just may save your own noggin!