It’s never too early to learn about bicycle safety and rules of the road.

The Oneida Indian Nation Police recently teamed up with the staff of the Early Learning Center to introduce children to bicycle safety and rules of the road. The partnership is part of a week-long curriculum designed specifically for preschoolers using stories, activities and child-friendly safety characters.

Officer David S. Hennessey recently sat down with the preschool and pre-Kindergarten students in the Nation’s Library. Using a simple egg demonstration, he illustrated three scenarios: not wearing a helmet, not wearing a secure helmet, and wearing a secure helmet.

“Riding your bike, or scooter, and you fall off your bike without your helmet on what happens? It (the egg) cracked, see. And that can happen to your head,” Officer David said adding that, unlike the egg, a person can recover from a fall after a long stay at the hospital.

“I put your helmet on and I strap it on tight. Let’s see what happens to the egg,” he said. He then dropped the egg nestled securely in a bicycle helmet. Picking up the helmet, unfastening the egg, Officer David then announced, “It’s perfect.”

Officer David and the class then discussed other sports that also require helmet use and they reviewed some simple rules of the road. The visit came one day before the children participated in the annual trike-a-thon event to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.