More than 4,000 to be donated this year through OTLA’s Bike Helmets on Kids campaign

SARNIA, ON – On JUNE 21, 2014, local representatives of the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association (OTLA) will be at the POINT EDWARD OPTOMIST BIKE RODEO where they will hand out more than 100 bicycle helmets to local children and youth.

FLECK LAW and BILDFELL LAW are Point Edward-based personal injury lawyers and members of the OTLA’s Bike Helmets on Kids campaign. This year, the campaign will help distribute an estimated 4,000 bicycle helmets to children in cities and regions across Ontario.

OTLA’s Bike Helmets on Kids campaign was started by OTLA members in 2002. Since its first event, held in London, Ontario, more than 19,000 helmets have been distributed to elementary school students. The mandate of the campaign is to put a helmet on the head of every child who needs one, and provide education and awareness to school-aged children about bicycle helmet use. All helmets are purchased with funds donated by OTLA lawyers and their firms.

This year, Bike Helmets on Kids events will take place during May and June in Ottawa, Toronto, Aurora, Halton Region (Burlington and Milton), Peel Region, Barrie, Sudbury, Windsor, Simcoe County (Midland), Haliburton and Sarnia. Each event is also supported locally by a number of community partners, such as school boards, local public health departments, regional chapters of the Ontario Brain Injury Association, provincial and local police, hospitals and other safety associations and organizations committed to brain injury awareness and treatment.

“Head injuries are the number-one cause of serious injury and death to kids on bicycles, but a properly fitted and correctly worn bike helmet can cut the risk of serious head injury by up to 85 per cent,” said Laura Hillyer, a Burlington-based personal injury lawyer and Chair of OTLA’s Bike Helmets on Kids campaign. “OTLA members are proud to dedicate their time and energy to help prevent the devastation caused by cycling accidents and head injuries.”

The Bike Helmets on Kids campaign has been recognized with awards from the Brain Injury Association of Canada (BIAC), the Ontario Brain Injury Association (OBIA) and the Ontario Safety League (OSL) for its contribution to promoting injury prevention awareness and safety education.

According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, cycling injuries are by far the most common injury from summer sports and recreational activity, accounting for half of all hospital admissions. Among the most severe cycling injury admissions of the past decade (those requiring admission to a special trauma centre), 78% of those hospitalized with a head injury were not wearing a helmet when their injury occurred.

About the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association: Founded in 1991, the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association (OTLA) is an organization of more than 1,450 plaintiff lawyers, law clerks, articling students and law students. Their purpose is to promote access to justice for all Ontarians, preserve and improve the civil justice system, and advocate for the rights of those who have suffered injury and losses as the result of wrongdoing by others, while at the same time advocating strongly for safety initiatives. For more information, visit www.otla.com