By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
POLICE have bailed out asylum seekers in need of bike safety lessons at Casey Safety Village in Cranbourne East.
Last month 28 clients from Asylum Seekers Resource Centre’s Dandenong office were wheeled through cycling road rules.
Some of the key lessons were the legal requirement to wear helmets, not to ride on footpaths unless accompanying a child under 12, to install bells and lights and wear a safety vest at night.
They earned their certificates after steering through the village’s replica road network of boom gates, pedestrian lights and school crossing.
After dismounting, the riders learned how to use fire blankets, maintain a smoke alarm and other home fire-safety tips at the village’s CFA Learning Centre.
ASRC manager Rosa Militano said the clients had to be “bike-ready” before receiving donated cycles from Bikes for Refugees.
“We do work closely with the police. It’s in everyone’s interests that we have these guys ready to ride in the streets.”
Dandenong police chipped funds from their community engagement budget for the lessons – after a plea for help from ASRC.
The City of Casey provided a bus to transport the riders to and from the village.
Inspector Alison Crombie, who leads the police’s southern metropolitan road policing unit, said she was impressed by the students’ appreciation and attentiveness.
“The lessons really did go down well which was especially pleasing for me.”
