Kids wearing bike helmets in Beach Haven 'ticketed' for ice cream reward

The Beach Haven Police Department has been issuing a lot of tickets to children. Thankfully, it’s for ice cream.

Sgt. Thomas Medel, who spearheaded the program to reward kids age 17 and younger who are following New Jersey’s bicycle helmet law, said he has already handed out about 25 tickets since the joint effort with Beach Haven ice cream shops began in August. The department’s other patrol officers are also pulling kids over and partaking in the effort.

Photo via Beach Haven Police Department
Children under 18 years old are required
to wear a helmet in NJ while on a bicycle.

“Most of the time they think they’re getting in trouble,” said Medel. “It’s really quite fun with the kids because their faces light up. It’s not often that you’re told from a police officer, ‘Hey, you’re doing something really good.’”

Bicycle safety is especially important during the summer months when the town is full of vacationers from out of state, Medel said.

“A lot of other states don’t have helmet laws like we do. It’s really important for the kids to wear their helmets and follow the rules of the road,” he added. “We have people riding their bicycles everywhere now. It’s actually dangerous for the people driving their cars as well as the bicyclists.”

The idea began when the owner of The Boardwalk, an ice cream parlor and bike shop, suggested rewarding kids for their efforts to follow the law, Medel explained. When Medel approached other business owners about the idea, he said they were all “on board.”

The tickets are good for one ice cream at Barry’s Do Me a Flavor, Ben and Jerry’s, The Boardwalk, Carmella’s Ice Creamery and Coffee Shop, Country Kettle Fudge, Fantasy Island Amusement Park, Happy Skipper, Lainie’s Ice Cream Porch, POPularity Pops or Thundering Surf Waterpark.

“Without the businesses generously offering the ice cream to the kids, this wouldn’t be such a success,” said Medel.

He claimed his younger daughter has been more aware of who is following the law and who is not since she received a ticket.

“You’d be surprised. When a little kid tells you you’re doing something wrong, you might think twice about it. The kids do know the right thing to do.”

Although the program will end around Labor Day, when school begins again, Medel said he hopes to start the program earlier in the summer next year.

— Kelley Anne Essinger

This article was published in The SandPaper.