Children’s bicycle helmets handed out at events on campus last year have been recalled by the manufacturer.

The helmets, Retrospec Scout in sizes small and extra-small, were given out by the UC Davis Police Department at events like Picnic Day, Thank Goodness for Staff, Take Our Children to Work Day and elsewhere between April and June.

The department distributed 76 of the helmets, purchased with a grant from the Office of Traffic Safety.

The manufacturer issued the recall notice Thursday (Jan. 11) in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, or CPSC.

“The recalled helmets do not comply with the coverage, positional stability and labeling requirements of the CPSC federal safety regulation for bicycle helmets,” the agency said. “The helmets can fail to protect in the event of a crash, posing a risk of head injury.”

Anyone who has one of the recalled helmets should destroy it by cutting off the chin straps and discard it, the recall notice states.

No helmets distributed through UC Davis’ Helmet Hair, Don’t Care program are included in the recall. That program is still distributing free helmets to students, faculty and staff.