Bicycle Safety
PREVENTING INJURIES AT PLAY
The single most effective safety device available to reduce head injury and death from bicycle crashes is a helmet.
- Make it a rule . every time you or your child ride a bike, you must wear a bicycle helmet that meets or exceeds the safety standards developed by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
- Helmet fit is important. The helmet should be comfortable and snug, but not too tight. It should sit centered 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 against your chin.
- If your child is reluctant to wear a helmet, try letting him or her choose his own.
Proper bicycle fit and maintenance are also important for safety.
- 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.
- Make sure the reflectors are secure, the brakes work properly, gears shift smoothly and tires are tightly secured and properly inflated.
Always model and teach proper bicyclist behavior. Learn the rules of the road, and obey all traffic laws.
- Ride on the right side of the road, with traffic, not against. Stay as far to the right as possible.
- Use appropriate hand signals.
- Respect traffic signals, stopping at all stop signs and stop lights.
- Stop and look left, right and left again before entering a street or crossing an intersection. Look back and yield to traffic coming from behind before turning left.
Adult supervision of child cyclists is essential until you are sure a child has good traffic skills and judgment.
- Cycling should be restricted to sidewalks and paths until a child is age 10.
- Children should be able to demonstrate riding competence and knowledge of the rules of the road before they cycle with traffic.
Children should not ride a bicycle when it.s dark, in the fog or in other low-visibility conditions.
- If riding at dusk, dawn or in the evening is unavoidable, use a light on the bike and make sure it has reflectors as well.
- Wear clothes and accessories that incorporate retroreflective materials to improve your visibility to motorists.
KIDS RIDING BIKES ALONE
Between approximately 5 to 10 years of age, children learn to become independent. They enjoy walking, riding bikes, and playing outside. They don’t yet have the judgment to cope with traffic, but they can begin to understand safety rules.
Bicycles are vehicles. Children should not ride bikes in the road until they fully understand traffic rules and show they can follow them. There is a correlation between being a safe pedestrian and a safe bike rider.
Parents and caregivers should be aware of the risks associated with bike riding. Among all recreational sports, bicycling is the leading cause of emergency department visits for children and adolescents. Most children who are killed in bike crashes are 7 to 12 years old, and traumatic brain injury accounts for two-thirds of all bike-related deaths.
The issue is not whether the child has and wears a safety-approved helmet. It is what the child is capable of doing safely while wearing one.
Parents and caregivers should ride with children for supervision and to model safe cycling behaviors. Safe Kids USA’s policy is that, keeping in mind the range of traffic patterns and driver behavior, adults should watch children carefully to assess their bike riding and traffic negotiation abilities and skills. Until children are able to negotiate traffic, understand risk, and judge speed (at least age 10), they should not ride unsupervised.
USE OF JOGGING STROLLERS, TRAILERS AND CHILD BIKE SEATS
A parent or caregiver with children too young to bike on their own may use a child bike seat or trailer to transport them while riding. Similarly, a parent or caregiver who enjoys jogging may use a jogging stroller to bring a child along on a run.
These transports are not appropriate for use by every child. Manufacturer consensus is that jogging strollers should not be used for children less than 6 months old. Also, children under age 1 should not ride on a bike or bike seat or in a bike trailer. Children younger than these age limits may not be physically developed enough to travel safely and comfortably in these transports.
Safe Kids USA’s policy is that parents and caregivers must always follow developmental guidelines and manufacturer’s instructions for the child transport. The parent or caregiver should also be an experienced, comfortable bicyclist or jogger before transporting a child.
When riding on a bike or in a bike trailer, a child should wear a properly fitted helmet. Children too small to wear a helmet correctly should wait before riding. Parents should ensure that the child is able to sit upright without physical support and hold his or her head upright with a helmet on it.
Safe Kids recommends using bike flags and reflectors or lights to increase a child’s visibility.
Other Resources:
The Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute
The American Academy of Pediatrics
