Healthy Living

Let’s face it —there are few things more fun for children than riding a bicycle. It offers freedom, fun and fresh air exercise. Since we all want to keep kids as safe as possible, here are some basic safety tips we should all be aware of:

• Always wear a properly fitting helmet.
• Ride on the right side of the road in the same direction as traffic. Go with the flow, not against it.
• Always ride with both hands on the handlebars. Carry books and other items in a bicycle carrier or backpack, not in your arms.
• Avoid riding at night. It makes sense that it’s more dangerous riding at night because of the inability to be seen by others. Wear clothes that reflect light and are easily seen in daytime, dusk, dawn, nighttime, or foul weather.
• Observe rules of the road. Don’t ride into a street without stopping, swerve into traffic that is coming from behind, or run stop signs.

According to Safe Kids Worldwide, more children ages 5 to 14 are seen in emergency rooms for injuries related to biking than any other sport. Helmets can reduce the risk of severe brain injuries by 88 percent — yet only 45 percent of children 14 and under usually wear a bike helmet. On their website SafeKids.org, they have a simple saying: "Use your head, wear a helmet." It is the single most effective safety device available to reduce head injury and death from bicycle crashes.

Actually, it’s not just children; everyone, regardless of age or cycling experience, needs to wear a helmet every time we ride.

I asked my friend and colleague Renee Malaro, RN, Backus Hospital’s Trauma Program Manager to shed some light on the issue of bike safety. I was hoping she would be able to say she has not encountered many bicycle-related injuries in the ER, but sadly that’s not the case.

Renee says that according KidsHealth roughly 300,000 kids go to the emergency department every year due to bike related injuries and this area is certainly not immune to this statistic. There are accidents and there are predictable events, and unfortunately it is easy to predict that every year we will receive patients with bicycle related injuries, she says. Of these injuries the most severe cases often include head injuries that may cause significant brain injury resulting in a need for hospitalization, life altering changes of daily routine or even worse death.

“What cannot be predicted is whether while riding a bicycle control will be lost due to going downhill, hitting an object on the road, sidewalk or path that is being ridden, or if that vehicle may not be able to stop in time if they happen to see you coming into the road. I urge every parent to ensure your children know the safety tips for riding safely and model the behavior that may save your life as well. I cannot agree more and think it is worth repeating that helmet use is the single most effective way to reduce bicycle-related fatalities as Safe Kids Worldwide suggests,” Renee says.

Renee is coordinating the 12th annual Backus Safety Camp on Saturday, May 14, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Backus Hospital parking lot. Representatives from the police, fire, ambulance, health departments and more will be on hand to talk about safety in a fun and interactive event. Kids will be fitted for free bicycle helmets while supplies last. All are welcome.

I recently saw a big gentleman sporting a T-shirt with a great slogan, also appropriate for the Safety Camp: “All bikers big and small, biking safety is for all.”