Until a child learns to drive, they often ride their bicycles to visit neighborhood friends in the summer. While children may not be thinking of safety as they pedal away, it's important for parents to make sure their children are wearing bike helmets on every ride.
Dell Children's Medical Center anticipates admitting more than 30 patients a year for serious bicycle related injuries. Helmet use appears to decline as children get older; among patients in Austin from 2002-2006, 90.3% of children ages 10-14 years were not wearing a helmet compared with 82.8% of 5-9 year olds, and 77.8% of children from one-to-four.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), bicycle injuries are the 4th leading cause of injury among 5-9 year old children, and 5th for 10-14 year old children.
Safety Tips
According to Safe Kids Austin:
Every time you ride, wear a bicycle helmet! The City of Austin ordinance requires helmets for riders ages 17 and under. Even a minor brain injury can have life altering effects.
Parents:
- Store your child's helmet on the handlebars as a reminder to wear it every time.
- Be sure your child is protected before they leave the house, and check on them while they are out playing to be sure the helmet is still where it should be.
- Talk with other parents in the neighborhood so that ALL your child's friends are wearing helmets.
- And remember, your child looks at you as an example. If you wear a helmet, they will too.
A helmet should sit on top of your head in a level position, and it should not rock forward and backward or side to side. The helmet straps must always be buckled snugly under the chin. For more information on proper helmet fitting, read GoodHealth.com's article, Properly Fitting a Child's Bike Helmet.
Ensure proper bike fit by bringing the child along when shopping for a bike. Buy a bicycle that is the right size for the child, not one he will grow into. When sitting on the seat, the child's feet should touch the ground.
Bike riders of all ages should:
- Learn the rules of the road and obey all traffic laws.
- Ride on the right side of the road, with traffic, not against.
- Use appropriate hand signals.
- Respect traffic signals.
- Stop at all stop signs and stop lights and stop and look both ways before entering a street.
Cycling should be restricted to sidewalks and paths until a child is age 10 and able to show how well he or she rides and observes the basic rules of the road. Adult supervision is essential until traffic skills and judgment thresholds are reached by each child.
Sources
Safe Kids USA.www.safekids.org Bicycle Injury Fact Sheet. Washington (DC): NSKC, 2005.
Centers for Disease Control. National Estimates of the 10 Leading Causes of Non-Fatal Injuries Treated in Hospital Emergency Departments, US 2004. www.cdc.gov
