May is National Bike Month

Biking is fun for the entire family, but both you and your kids need to be properly equipped when riding bikes, skateboards or anything with wheels.
Learn how to get the right helmet for your activity, the best helmet fit and many other tips to make sure your family rides safely.

Did You Know

• Head injuries are the most serious type of injury and the most common cause of death for bicyclists.  Bicycle helmets have been proven to reduce the risk of head and brain injury when a crash occurs by as much as 85 to 88 percent.
• Children with bicycle-related head injuries are more likely to require hospitalization and to have their injuries result in death.
• More than one-fifth of all bicyclist deaths occur among school age youth ages 5 to 15.
• More children go to hospital emergency departments for bicycle related crashes than for any other sport.
• Of child bicyclists (16 years and under) killed on the road, 49 percent are killed while bicycling on minor roads (connecting roads and neighborhood streets) and almost 49 percent are killed while bicycling on major roads (high-volume roads across cities and towns).
• Almost half of bicycle crashes occur in driveways or on sidewalks.

Top Bike Safety Tips HELMETS Make sure the helmet fits and your child knows how to put it on correctly. A helmet should sit on top of the head in a level position, and should not rock forward, backward or side to side. The helmet straps must always be buckled. Try the Eyes, Ears and Mouth Test: EYES check: Position the helmet on your head.  Look up and you should see the bottom rim of the helmet. The rim should be one to two finger-widths above the eyebrows. EARS check: Make sure the straps of the helmet form a "V" under your ears when buckled. The strap should be snug but comfortable. MOUTH check:  Open your mouth as wide as you can.  Do you feel the helmet hug your head?  If not, tighten the straps and make sure the buckle is flat against your skin. RULES OF THE ROAD 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 age 10. Children should be able to demonstrate riding competence and knowledge of the rules of the road before cycling 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 light-colored clothes and accessories that have retro-reflective materials to improve biker visibility to motorists.

Resources 

• Helmet Fit Test Tip Sheet
• Injury Trends Fact Sheet
• Bicycling and Skating Tips
• League of American Bicyclists’ ABC Quick Check
• Bicyclists Make Safe Choices
• Bikeability Checklist
• Five Steps to Riding Better
• NHTSA’s How to Fit a Helmet (English)
• NHTSA’s How to Fit a Helmet (Spanish/Español)

Video

• Why Bike Safety is Important

Safety Basics 

• Little Kids (1-4 years) At Play
• Big Kids (5-9 years) At Play

Information for this blog entry is from SafeKids.org.  For more information about bicycle safety for your family, check out the SafeKids.org website.