CAPITAL REGION — After an 8-year-old boy was hit by a car while riding his bike in Amsterdam, his mother was ticketed for his violation of the state’s bicycle helmet safety law.

Amsterdam Police Officer Ariel Santiago said such instances are rare.

“We’re more about education,” he said Thursday.

Santiago said he frequently stops children in the city and tells them to walk their bicycle home and get a helmet or confronts parents about the importance of helmets.

The boy was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital with minor injuries, but many bicycle accident victims are not so lucky.

Statistics from the Brain Injury Association of New York State say that 96 percent of cyclists killed in 1996 were not wearing a helmet and 88 percent of brain injuries from cycling accidents could have been prevented by wearing a helmet. Furthermore, more children between the ages of 5 and 14 go to hospital emergency rooms for biking accidents than any other sport.

Glenville Police Chief Michael Ranalli said the state law requiring children to wear helmets is hard to enforce.

Ranalli said while he doesn’t believe that law is merely “symbolic,” or for show, with everything else the department has to worry about, ticketing a child for not wearing a bicycle helmet is not a priority.

“With things like staffing issues, all police departments are facing the same things,” he said.

All children under the age of 14 are required to wear safety helmets, according to state law. Adults present while a child is not wearing a safety helmet can be issued appearance tickets and face up to a $50 fine.

Instead of ensuring that bicyclists are wearing helmets by aggressively enforcing the law, police departments are participating in incentive programs such as the Safe Summer Program, which rewards children with ice cream cones for wearing their helmets.

It is sponsored by shops like Stewart’s, Friendly’s and Cold Stone Creamery. Officers present children found wearing their bicycle helmets with coupons for free ice cream.

“Positive reinforcement is always better than negative,” Ranalli said.

Ranalli said it is often hard for an officer to tell how old a child is, which also presents a problem in enforcement.

“With coupons, you don’t have to worry about that,” Ranalli said.

While police may not be enforcing the law through tickets and fines, Heather Mason, manager at Plaine and Son, a bicycle, ski and boarding shop in Schenectady, said she thinks awareness about the importance of helmet safety has increased over the years due to more children riding bicycles to school and greater public awareness outreach.

“This year alone, we’ve had the pleasure of taking part in five helmet giveaway and safety inspections around the area where we’ve donated helmets and been on site to check proper fit,” Mason said.

Mason thinks more parents are paying attention to ensuring their child has a proper-fitting helmet and wears it, and schools are getting involved with promoting the importance of wearing a helmet because more children are riding bicycles to school.

“Plus helmets look cooler these days,” Mason said.

Plaine and Son sells a variety of bicycle helmets ranging in price from $9.99 to $300, Mason said.

Not only should a child be wearing one, but it should fit properly. Mason said a properly fitting helmet sits just above the eyebrows and fits snugly around the head.

Jennifer Clunie, program manager for the New York Bicycle Coalition, said the organization is also conducting a lot of outreach and education programs, including helmet giveaways to educate people about the importance of a helmet in bicycle safety.

For National Bike Month this May, Clunie said, the coalition teamed up with the Schenectady Boys and Girls Club and Plaine and Son to give helmets away to children.

Clunie said where she sees a great problem is parents who ride with their children and don’t wear a helmet.

“What kind of example is the parent setting for the child,” Clunie asked. “Parents are the most instrumental role model a child has in its lifetime.”

Additional safety tips from Mason include:

* Helmets need to be replaced after a fall that impacts the helmet.

* Each helmet should have a sticker inside with the person’s name, telephone number and emergency contact information in case of an accident. It is the first place emergency personnel look for that information.

For additional information on bicycle safety, including rules of the road and bicyclists’ rights, visit the New York Bicycle Coalition’s Web site at www.nybc.net.