Keep Your Kids Safe While Riding Their Bike

One of our main goals as a parent is to protect our children and keep them safe. It's our job to teach lessons and to put them in safe environments. We start with things like car seats and childproofing our homes. This guide will cover how to keep your children safe on their bikes.

The first part of riding in a safe manner is wearing a helmet! We've all heard how helmets can save lives and it's absolutely true. Statistics show that 80% of children who die in a bike accident each year were caused by head injuries. There were also a reported 270,000 injuries that required emergency room visits last year and half of these visits showed some sort of brain trauma.

Even with the recent law that children under 16 years old must wear helmets, only 25% of children actually wear helmets while riding their bike. If this rule was enforced and followed, the brain trauma caused each year would decrease by 90%.

Wearing a helmet will help, but making sure it's the right size is just as important. If the helmet isn't the proper size, the risk of a head injury is almost double than if your child was fitted properly.

A damaged helmet should always be replaced. If your child has been in a crash, it probably means the helmet is now damaged. If your child doesn't like wearing a helmet, you should allow them to choose their own helmet. This will increase the chances of them wearing it. If you ride with your children, always set an example and wear a helmet as well.

The next part to staying safe on a bike is maintaining the bike and sizing the right bike. The size of the bike can easily be measured by having your child stand over the bike. There should be 1-2inches between the top bar of the bike and your child. Make sure your child is comfortable on their seat as well. The seat should be at a level where the knees slightly bend at the lowest point while pedaling. The handle bars should also be level with the seat.

Discuss riding in safe areas with your child. Educate them on potholes and make sure they know riding on gravel can be dangerous. Keeping their eyes open for cars at all times should be stressed. If they can't ride on the sidewalk, make sure they ride with traffic and hand signals should be used when needed.

Every child should learn how to ride a bike as it's a great way to get out and get some exercise. It's also a great way to enjoy the outdoors or even ride around with the family. However, being safe can save a life so I hope this guide has helped you understand certain rules to follow to keeping your children safe!