Taking one look at the gaping hole in the helmet she wore after being injured and dragged by a car at Third and Main streets June 14, cyclist Carla Hoffman knew what she had to do.
“The moment I saw my helmet after the accident, I knew I wanted to start a program to inform kids about the importance of helmets,” she said in an online post. “I’m starting out by having a helmet drive to pass out helmets to kids going back to school.”
To participate in “Carla’s Cycling Safety Club Helmet Drive,” community members are invited to drop off new youth bike helmets or purchase them at Taylor Bike Co. at 204 N. Main St., through Aug. 6.
In addition, tax-deductible donations can be made to Good Life Taylor via cash, check or Venmo.
Eddie Chavez, an owner of Taylor Bike Co., said it was an easy decision to team up with Hoffman. The latter had to be hospitalized for several days after the incident.
“I didn’t see the crash, but I am just very grateful that she was alive,” Chavez said. “The big thing is the fact that she was wearing a helmet. The vehicle crushed her helmet, but it didn’t collapse on itself. If she had not been wearing that helmet, she would not have been here today.”
Chavez said he has had his own near-misses on the roads.
“The helmet saved my life on a couple of occasions, even when I had my motorcycle and crashed and hit my head really hard,” Chavez said. “I had my helmet on, and I am alive for it.”
Since Hoffman’s accident, Chavez said more people have been expressing interest in helmets at the shop.
“We definitely have seen an uptick in individuals coming in to buy helmets,” he said. “We always offer them when there is a bike purchase or just someone wanting to do repairs. We always check, ‘Do you have a helmet?’ It’s good to upgrade your helmet every three to four years because there is a shelf life to them,” he said.
The store owner added, “But definitely, after the accident, the crash, we have had some folks come in and specifically say, ‘Hey, I am here to buy a helmet. Ever since Carla got struck, it has been on the back of my mind.’” Chavez said he also had an emotional response to the immediate aftermath of the downtown accident, which saw bystanders springing to aid Hoffman.
“I started weeping like a baby when I saw it was a bike that I helped build lying in the street,” he said. “(Hoffman) is a very powerful and wonderful human being. Seeing her and finding out that she was almost taken from us, that’s pretty much why we are going to team up.”
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We definitely have seen an uptick in individuals coming in to buy helmets. We always offer them when there is a bike purchase or just someone wanting to do repairs.”
-Eddie Chavez, an owner of Taylor Bike Co.
