September 11, 2025
by Tom Ewing
“What’s the most hazardous consumer product? If you guessed ‘bicycles,’ you’re right.” These sentences opened an article, “An Appeal to the Consumer,” published by Extension Agent Lynn Huckabee in June 21, 1978 in the Danville, Virginia newspaper, Commercial Appeal.
After stating that the bicycle was ranked first of one hundred products on the Hazard Index from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, Huckabee than provided eight bullet points for “youngsters” to consider when riding bicycles on roadways: follow all traffic laws, use hand signals before turning, ride on the right side of the road in a single file, do not ride on sidewalks unless allowed by a local jurisdiction, do not carry items in both hands while riding, do not hold on to other vehicles, use front and rear lights at night, make sure that brakes work effectively, and never ride on an interstate. Missing from this list, as we discuss in a recent article in Circulating Now, is any recommendation about wearing a helmet. The boy riding a bicycle is clearly not wearing a helmet, as was common in the 1970s.
As noted at the end of Huckabee’s article, support for children’s cycling was often provided by 4-H organizations and extension agents, especially in rural communities. In 1974, the Rappahanock Record published an article and illustration from the national 4-H organization, which encouraged youth aged 9-19 in rural and urban areas to become involved in bicycle programs sponsored by local organizations and business. A cartoon accompanying the article illustrates popular ways of riding that were hazardous, including riding against traffic, carrying extra riders, ignoring traffic signs, and “stunt” riding. Wearing helmets was not recommended as a safety measure, and none of the boys or girls in the illustration wore helmets.
In the article cited above, Huckabee was identified as ‘V.P.I. Extension,” an abbreviation familiar to Virginia residents as Virginia Polytechnic Institute, now more commonly known as Virginia Tech, the home for the Bike 76 VA project. Support for cycling at Virginia Tech includes the Bike Hub, laboratory experiments related to helmet safety, and research about sustainable transportation and environmental impacts. The Virginia Tech campus is not directly on Route 76, but the route is easily accessible to the northeast toward Roanoke, to the south toward Christiansburg, and to the southwest toward Radford. Several training routes recommended by Virginia Tech Club Cycling include sections of Route 76 along Blacksburg Road.
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