HOPEWELL POLICE DEPARTMENT SAFETY TIPS

Bicycle safety

Using a bicycle as your primary means of transportation can be fun, cost effective, and help keep you physically fit. However, bicycle riding poses many risks, even for the experienced rider.

Scraped knees and elbows are commonplace, but even a minor spill may result in serious head and brain injury. Statistics show that between 70-80% of all fatal bicycle crashes involve head injuries. Although helmet usage is very low (15 - 18%), studies have proven that bicycle helmets are 85-88% effective in mitigating total head and brain injuries.

In addition to using helmets and knee pads, keep in mind the following safety tips:

• Check safety equipment before starting.
• Obey all traffic laws.
• Ride in single file.
• Ride as close to the right edge of the road as possible.
• Avoid riding at night.
• Keep both hands on the handlebars.

Child Safety

Child Passenger Protection Law

When installed correctly, child safety seats reduce the risk of death in a crash by 71%. Motor vehicle crashes are one of the leading killers of children.

The law requires anyone who transports children in Virginia in non-commercial vehicles to do so according to the following rules: Children eight years of age or younger must be secured in an approved child restraint system, more commonly called a child safety seat. Further, rear-facing child restraint devices must be placed in the back seat of a vehicle. In the event the vehicle does not have a back seat, the child restraint device may be placed in the front passenger seat only if the vehicle is either not equipped with a passenger side airbag or the passenger side airbag has been deactivated.

Unlike the safety belt law, the Child Passenger Law is a primary enforcement citation - you can be stopped and ticketed for violating this law without any other violations present.

Dos and Don'ts of Child Safety

Do

• know your telephone number, address, and your parents' full names: for example, Mary or Joe Smith... not just "mom" or "dad."
• let your parents know where you are and who you are with. Play with friends, and remember, there is safety in numbers.
• tell your parents who your friends are and where they live... especially new friends and adults you meet.
• tell your parents if someone talks about sex or love.
• tell your parents if someone touches you or asks to take pictures of you. Secrets about bad touches are bad secrets. Tell your parents, teacher, doctor, or some other adult you trust if someone asks you to keep a bad secret.    

Don't

• accept rides from a strangers or get in their car.
• open a door to a stranger... Never open the door to anyone when you are home alone.
• give information over the phone to someone you do not know.
• tell anyone you are home alone.
• go into a person's house without your parent's permission.
• play in isolated places.

Preventing Child Abduction

Around the country, thousands of children are reported missing each year. Some children are found and returned, others return home on their own. Some of our children are never found or returned.

There is nothing that devastates parents, friends, and a community more than a reported child abduction or attempt kidnapping of a child. Child abduction is not only committed by a stranger, it could be committed by someone they know and trust, like a parent.

What Parents Can Do

• Know where your child is at all times.
• Never leave a small child alone at home or in a car.
• Make sure your child knows his or her full name, address and telephone number.
• Make sure your child know where you work, and that telephone information.
• Know your child's friends and where they live.
• Teach your child about strangers. Tell him or her to never talk, take candy, or go with a stranger - without your consent.
• Make sure your child knows never to get into a stranger's car.
• Tell your child that if approached by a stranger, run and scream.
• Let your child know that no one has a right to touch any part of his or her body that a bathing suit would cover.
• Inform your child to report to you, a police officer or school authority, anyone that exposes his or her private parts to them.
• Report to the police immediately, if your child informs you that they were lured or assaulted by a stranger

Children should...

• Never go to a friend's home without informing their parents where they are going and when they will return.
• Never talk to strangers.
• Never take candy or gifts from strangers.
• Never wander off when they are with their parents.
• Move away from a car or van that pulls up next to them, if they do not know the driver.
• Scream and run away from any stranger that calls them to a vehicle or attempts to touch them.
• Be suspicious of any stranger asking for assistance.
• Try to remember what the stranger looks like, as well as the vehicle and license plate number.
• Immediately inform parents or police of any strangers that attempt to call them to a car or van.

What the Community Can Do

• Be aware of all strangers in their neighborhood, especially if they pay undue attention to a child.
• Write down information about strangers in your neighborhood.
• Write down information about strange vehicles in their neighborhood.
• Call the police immediately if someone is screaming or being chased by anyone.