Bicycle Basics
How often are children injured in bicycle related accidents?
It's interesting because you only know about injured children in bicycle related accidents if there's a report made by the police, a vehicle involved or if the relative or witness takes the child for emergency care, and tell the physician that the child was injured while riding their bicycle. Often a child will break their arm and their carer will say, "Well, he broke his arm", not always relating precisely how the injury occured. So there's a real discrepancy in the number of children injured in this manner, but I believe in my business and knowing children, a child is probably hit by a car or falls off a bike every hour. A tremendous amount of children are injured riding a bike. The national data certainly makes bike riding a dangerous sport, but you need to look at how it happens to make sure that there's a real understanding how dangerous bike riding is. But often the reporting happens when it's not reported as a bicycle crash. A child hit by a car, is often not recorded as a bicycle related accident and the bike is secondary. So we don't have any unbiased data. We're now creating that with law enforcement to indicate if a bicycle, a scooter or a skateboard was involved, but often these are indicated as a pedestrian crash.
What is a "bicycle helmet"?
A lot of parents look at a bicycle helmet and it looks like an ice chest. The bicycle helmet has white foam and a piece of flimsy looking plastic and a couple of straps. Parents don't realize that this piece of foam is the difference between your child surviving a bike crash and not. A lot of parents will say "Well, I never rode a bike with a bicycle helmet when I was a kid and I'm around to talk about it". Well, times are different now: there's more traffic, bicycles are faster, children are taking more risks, and they're less supervised. So a bicycle helmet is a really a really important thing. And, the way the bicycle helmet works is interesting because the bicycle helmet is like a gigantic sponge. And, if you took the sponge and put it on a puddle of water, that sponge would soak up the water. Well, that's exactly what the foam does on a fall. When that bicycle helmet hits the ground the bicycle helmet soaks up the energy of the fall. This is the way we explain it to children, because they are as sceptical about bicycle helmets as parents are. That a bicycle helmet is a gigantic sponge which soaks up the energy of the fall, slows it down, and protects your head. And then I show the benefits of the bicycle helmet using the watermelon drop. There's nothing more graphic that can show a child why a bicycle helmet is so important because that watermelon is the same consistency as all of our heads. When that bicycle helmet smashes on the ground, you don't have to say too much to a child. They understand that wearing a bicycle helmet can prevent that and if you don't that's what happens. So starting young, showing that a bicycle helmet does work, showing how protective a bicycle helmet is, and peer pressure. If everyone in the family is wearing a bicycle helmet, and Mom and Dad say no bicycle helmet, no bike, that bicycle helmet is going to do its job.
How often do I need to replace a bicycle helmet?
Depending on the wear and tear of the helmet, you should replace a bicycle helmet every single year, sooner if the bicycle helmet has been in a crash. The bicycle helmet only works once, so if the bicycle helmet is in a crash, you need to replace it right away. The bicycle helmet can never be worn again. But a bicycle helmet will last at least one year, if it's maintained. If your child's tough on the bicycle helmet, cracking nuts, throwing the bicycle helmet on the cement, the dog's chewing it up, you may need to replace it sooner. But you need to spot check your bicycle helmet, just like you do your children's shoes.
How do the parts of a bicycle helmet work together to protect my child?
The bicycle helmet has various functions and there are parts to it that work together. It's really important that the helmet has the two side pieces that adjust to keep the helmet close to the ear, as well as the buckle. The buckle needs to fit and you need to hear a snap. It's not good enough for it to go in there if it can easily come out. Then you want a helmet that has a microshell on it. And the reason that you have a plastic covering, when a child falls off their bike, is the helmet hits the ground several times before the child comes to a stop. The microshell holds the foam in place so the foam doesn't split apart while the child's head is hitting the ground these two or three times. The foam under here is not the same foam that ice chests are made out of. It's a quality foam that's designed to absorb the impact of a fall. These are the basics of the helmet and they're all like this. You have some helmets that have longer backs and you have some helmets that have fitting mechanisms here but it's really about what your child's comfortable wearing, what you can afford and what is recommended by a safety expert that you might discuss the matter with.
Should my child wear a bicycle helmet while riding a tricycle or play vehicle?
All children should wear a helmet when they're riding a tricycle, a little plastic Playskool tricycle, a little firetruck. Anything that rolls, a child should be wearing a helmet on.First of all, it's a great lesson to teach them, that anytime they're moving in a vehicle whether it's a little truck or a little tricycle, they need to be wearing a bicycle helmet. And, if they start young, they're going to remember it when it's time to ride.I don't care if the child is riding in the living room, the family room, down the hallway, or in the driveway, street or sidewalk - they always should wear a helmet. It can protect them anywhere they fall. Many kids - if you fall on a hardwood floor it's just as hard as the concrete out on the street. So, any time they're rolling, they need to wear that bicycle helmet.
Does my child need to wear a bicycle helmet while biking in our driveway?
When children are riding bikes, regardless of where they are riding their bikes, on public property, on private property, they should be wearing a bicycle helmet. The law in California and several other states says only on public property do children or teens have to wear a bicycle helmet. But as a responsible parent, you need to make sure your child is wearing a bicycle helmet when riding a bicycle in the driveway, in the patio, anywhere there is a hard surface. That includes the living room. So children need to wear bicycle helmets all the time.
