Fred Casson Creates Safety Apparel

In the Wake of Bicycle Deaths

By Susie Davidson

Advocate Correspondent

JAMAICA PLAIN - The recent tragic and unnecessary deaths of bicyclists in Cambridge and Brookline have regrettably brought to light the imperative need to ensure safety for non-motorists.

Indeed, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)’s chilling statistical scenario for 2001 cites 85,000 pedestrians injured and 4,900 killed in U.S. traffic accidents, with 700 bicyclist deaths incurred from motor vehicle crashes. This translates soberly into a pedestrian being killed in a traffic accident every 107 minutes. Further, of all children between the ages of five and nine killed in traffic-related accidents, 24 percent were pedestrians.

With a new school season approaching, what parent doesn’t fear for their departing children, whether they are on bike or on foot? What bicycle commuter doesn’t entertain a shuddering thought, each time he/she makes that first daily revolution, that this ride could be their last? It’s an uncomfortable reality.

Enter Fred Casson of Jamaica Plain, president of CautionYield. Casson, in the wake of these recent fatalities, has created a line of both safety apparel and accessories which are designed to protect children, elderly walkers, pedestrians, bladers and inline skaters, joggers, road workers and anyone else who might be out on the road. “The key to safety,” he says, “is simply to be seen and recognized before anything happens.”

Casson, a Newton native, graduated from the Cambridge School of Weston and Boston University. His father, the late Judge Abraham B. Casson, who was born in Russia, represented Roxbury’s Jewish community as its State Representative in 1926, 1928 and 1930. He was appointed to the bench of the Municipal Court of Boston in the early 40's.

“My family belonged to both Brookline’s Temple Ohabei Shalom, where I had my bar mitzvah,” he recalls, “and Boston’s Temple Israel, where I was confirmed and both my daughter and son were named.”

After a visit to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., Chasson, a painter and amateur chef who entertains for all the Jewish holidays, was inspired to paint canvases with strong Jewish themes. But road safety remains his current cause.

Casson believed the recent deaths were largely due to the failure of the colliding motorists to see the cyclists in time. As the NHTSA has concluded that visibility is highest when fluorescent colors are worn, Casson’s day-glo articles are bright and bold, and he incorporates images similar to traffic signs onto his T-shirts, sleeveless jerseys, tank tops and sweatshirts. “Wearing white simply isn’t enough,” he says.

Obviously, when moving vehicles are involved, the potential for injury or death is all too real, and a few seconds can make a critical difference.

Casson has joined CautionYield into a corporate partnership with SafeNeighbors (safeneighbors.org), an organization which seeks to promote national neighborhood safety. By focusing upon increased awareness, mindful watching and safety measures such as the wearing of high-visibility clothing and reflective accessories, the group aims to reduce not only accidents, but kidnappings and other grievous occurences. Casson donates a portion of CautionYield sales to SafeNeighbors.

“These tragedies can be avoided,” he affirms.

CautionYield safety wear can be purchased either through cautionyield.com or by calling 800-568-0048.