Free Ice Cream for Bike Helmets

Sheriff's deputuies in Carver County will be on the lookout this summer for kids wearing helmets while biking and skating, giving them a coupon for free ice cream.

The “I got caught” program is an effort to encourage safety and prevent injuries statewide. Children seen wearing helmets may be rewarded a coupon for a free child-size ice cream cone at Dairy Queen.

“We want all of our children to have a safe summer while they are riding their bicycles, scooters, skates and skateboards," Sheriff Bud Olson said. "We hope that we can encourage the use of helmets by rewarding riders who are doing it right”.

Wednesday, a boy was hit by a car traveling at least 40 mph in Shakopee, Minn. Joe Alvarado, 8, was thrown 50 feet, but survived.

Alvarado wasn't wearing a helmet and suffered a concussion, but is expected to make a full recovery. Doctors say it's pure luck the boy will recover, despite not wearing a helmet.

According to the Center for Disease Control each year nearly 1,000 people die from injuries received during accidents involving bicycles and 550,000 people are treated yearly at emergency rooms for injuries that are bicycle-related.

A study in Seattle determined that the use of helmets reduced the risk of head injury in bicycle accidents by 74 to 85 percent.