How To Help Your Child Stay Safe Whilst Riding A Bicycle

How can my child stay safe while riding a bicycle?

You know, I think the first thing that a parent can do to make their child stay safe while riding a bicycle is to make sure you start young and give them a healthy respect for the bicycle. Start young with all the safety equipment, such as a helmet and a good bike. When you start young, that child will be trained to use a helmet, it will be just an automatic response before they ride a bike. Also, as a parent you need to model positive behaviour. So many times we see kids wearing helmets and the parents aren't, which sends a wrong message to the child that when you're an adult you don't have to take the safety precautions that children do. I think that role modelling safe behaviour is very important. Also riding bikes with your child is important; being aware that a bike is not a toy, it is a form of transportation and to treat it as such. Make sure your child wants to ride the bike and it's not something you want them to do, and then ride with them. Train them like you would train them to play the piano or learning their multiplication tables. It's a skill that needs to be acquired and it's a skill that needs to be practiced in order to make a child safe.