Prompted by the fatal bike accident on Sheridan road last month, Associated Student Government (ASG) partnered with local bike shop Wheel & Sprocket to provide 330 free helmets to bikers on campus. Its goals were simple: increase bike safety awareness, supply students with vital equipment they wouldn’t have otherwise and, ultimately, prevent history from repeating itself.
The giveaway took place at the arch on Monday from noon to 2 p.m., with a stand manned by ASG members, Wheel & Sprocket employees and a few NUPD officers. The event was the first of its kind.
“Normally Evanston and Northwestern give out free bike lights on a quarterly basis, and that’s something that’s been going on for the past few years, but this is the first time that we’ve been doing free helmets,” ASG president Christina Cilento said. “The vast majority of people who bike on campus don’t have a helmet, so we wanted to remedy that problem.”
ASG was allotted $10,000 to purchase the neon-yellow helmets by the office of the president. Normally $40, they were sold to Northwestern in bulk for a discounted price of $30 each and were given to bikers for free.
“We do have 10 percent student discount on parts and accessories at Wheel & Sprocket because we want to make sure that people are able to take care of their bikes, and that they’re able to take care of themselves,” said Rae Hamilton-Vargo, a store manager and Northwestern graduate.
According to Hamilton-Vargo, wearing a helmet is only the beginning of bike safety. Bikers should also use lights to make themselves more visible, even during the daytime. High-visibility and high-contrast colors are also key.
“The best assumption is that cars can’t see you,” Hamilton-Vargo said. “It’s just like seatbelts. If you’re in a car, you’re wearing a seatbelt. If you’re on a bike, you’re wearing a helmet.”
Those working the stand flagged down passing bikers to offer them a free helmet. Multiple declined, admitting that they already owned one though they weren’t wearing it. However, many bikers seemed eager to get outfitted with a helmet at no cost to them.
“I originally was only commuting on campus just from Allison to Tech, and I didn’t necessarily have the funds to invest in a helmet,” sophomore Tarushi Sharma said. “Now I work off campus, so when I bike there I have to go on the roads, so I feel a little safer [wearing a helmet]. It was made available, and it was free, and it was something that was also on my radar. But the accident definitely was a huge factor.”
Other bikers cited another common, if slightly more superficial, reason for not wearing a helmet.
“I’ve never owned a helmet before,” freshman Soyeon Shin said. “I always just thought it was aesthetically unappealing.”
However, Shin got over her fear of helmet-hair after the recent bike accident.
“[The accident] happened around the time I got my bike, and I was like, maybe I should have bought a helmet at the same time,” Shin said. “I was a little worried because I bike a lot, especially when it’s dark. I live on south campus, but I work all the way over on north campus, so that’s been in the back of my mind.”
Along with free helmets, half-price bike locks and water bottles with $10 Wheel and Sprocket gift cards inside, a plethora of bike safety information was also available, courtesy of the Illinois Department of Transportation.
“That’s 330 students who are being more safe,” Hamilton-Vargo said. “Even the folks that don’t pick up helmets today, I hope that if they see more people wearing these helmets and being conscious of their own safety, they’ll think, ‘Wow, I should really be looking out for that as well.’”
Editor's note: a previous version of this story said Kit Martin, the bicyclist featured in the second picture, was a graduate student. This is not entirely accurate – he is a PhD student. The caption also wrongly said the woman fitting him for a helmet was an ASG member. This is also incorrect – it is Elizabeth Adamczyk, a library employee. NBN regrets this error, and made the change at 7:45 p.m. on Oct. 25.