This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Crime & Safety

Gear Up Takoma! promotes safety, community

The free event, which will champion bike, skateboard and scooter safety, will be open to the community.

The Takoma Park Police, in conjunction with Takoma Park Safe Routes To School, will put on Gear Up Takoma!, a community event that will focus on bicycle, scooter and skateboard safety, on Saturday, Oct. 29.

Police encourage all residents to bring their equipment to the event, which will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Takoma Park Community Center at 7500 Maple Ave. There will be refreshments as well as helmet fittings, maintenance workshops for bikes and skateboards and a crosswalk simulation, which aims to teach people how to safely navigate a crosswalk while on a bicycle.

The goal, said Officer Carla Magnaye, who is coordinating the event, is to foster a better relationship between the local police force and Takoma Park residents, and also advocate better safety procedures. She’s counting on Takoma Park’s large number of bicyclists to turn out for this first-ever event.

“We think the community is going to welcome it,” she said. “I think it’s going to be a really good turnout.”

The police department’s main partner for the event is Safe Routes for School, a city program that, according to its website, “aims to encourage students to walk to school regularly and safely.” It also helps to rebuild the Takoma Park’s sidewalk infrastructure.

Some local companies have partnered up with the police for the event, as well. Two Takoma Park bike shops, The Green Commuter and Takoma Bicycle, will be on hand to give the aforementioned workshops to residents.

Though the focus of the day is, of course, safety, Magnaye said the real goal of the event is for the community to come together.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.