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Keep Your Kids Safe While Riding a Bicycle With These 7 Safety Tips
Learning to ride a bike is a rite of passage. It’s also a great way for kids to burn energy, get exercise and have fun outdoors. But riding a bicycle can also be dangerous. Especially for newer riders. From minor scrapes and skinned knees to more severe injuries, riding a bike is a big responsibility that comes with some risks.
But, don’t panic. With some simple bike safety tips and proper equipment, your child can ride confidently and safely.
Did you know? Thousands of bicyclists are injured on the road every year, and many of those require medical treatment. If you or someone you know ever finds themselves injured in an accident, a bicycle accident lawyer can help guide you through the process of getting compensation.
Follow These Best Practices for Bike Safety
The best way to avoid being injured in a bicycle accident is to always practice safe riding habits. Below you’ll find our guide to educating your kids on how to stay safe while riding.
#1 Always Wear a Bike Helmet to Prevent Head Injuries
Serious head injuries make up a large portion of bicycle accident fatalities every year. Over half of those killed in bike crashes annually were not wearing a bicycle helmet.
Bike helmets are essential to safe riding and can reduce the chance of a serious head injury by half. Be sure to have your child put their helmet on before heading out for a ride.
Wearing a helmet won’t help much, if it’s not the right kind or not the right fit. The helmet should be made of a high-quality material, meet all safety standards and be properly fitted for your specific child.
You can visit CPSC website for details information about helmet safety regulations? Click here to learn more.
Watch this video for a guide on properly fitting your child’s helmet.
#2 Avoid Distractions During Your Bike Ride
Distracted bike riding is just as dangerous as distracted driving. Turning your attention away for even a few seconds could result in an accident. When your out on a ride, it’s important to keep your eyes and ears on the path ahead. Even wearing headphones while riding greatly increases your risk for injury.
Here are a few things to keep an eye out for while bike riding:
- Parked cars
- Cars backing out of driveways
- Traffic lights
- Stop signs
- Oncoming vehicles
- Other bicyclists
#3 Ride Bikes Together
Next time your kids want to go on a bike ride, why not join them? It’s a great way to ensure children are safe while riding and it can be a lot of fun. We definitely recommend this for newer and younger bicycle riders.
Modeling good bicycle safety is the most effective way for your child to learn. It gives them hands-on lessons regarding bicycle safety and it provides a great bonding experience between you and your child.
#4 Use Bike Lanes (or Sidewalks Where Permitted)
Knowing how to ride a bike with the flow of traffic helps reduce the risk of a collision. Making sure your kids know how to safely ride with traffic is really important and should be discussed as early as possible. Always be sure to use bike paths or the bike lane whenever available. These lanes provide an added level of safety for your child while riding on the busy road. For kids under the age of 10, it’s always best to ride on the sidewalk wherever possible. It’s recommended to check your local ordinances and ensure sidewalk riding is permitted in your area.
#5 Avoid Riding Bikes at Night
When the sun goes down, so does visibility. It’s always a good idea to limit your child’s bicycle riding during the daytime. And, the statistics back this up. The most severe accidents and fatalities that occur between bicyclists and vehicles happen between 6 and 9 p.m.
#6 Wear Reflective Gear
In addition to bicycle helmets, it’s highly recommended that bicyclists of any age wear bright clothes. If your kid is wearing bright colors, they’ll be more visible to vehicles. Reflective clothing items are specifically designed for added safety around traffic.
You can even install reflective gear on your child’s bike to be visible even if their clothing isn’t.
#7 Always Ride Responsibly
Riding a bike is fun, and sometimes kids get carried away with showing off, going too fast, or not paying attention to their surroundings.
Make sure your child the importance of riding responsibly by following these simple rules:
- Perform a bike safety check before riding
- Wear a helmet every time
- Keep both hands on the bike’s handlebars
- Wear clothing that won’t snag on the bike’s chain
- Wear appropriate shoes to keep control of the bike
- Obey traffic lights and follow traffic signals
- Know what the correct hand signals are and use them.
Were you or your child hurt in a bicycle accident?
Bicycle safety education helps protect your child from preventable collisions and bike injuries, but accidents still happen. And when they do, they’re scary. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Talking to a personal injury lawyer can help you feel at ease. They can guide you through the process of filing an injury claim and make sure you get the compensation you deserve.
We’ve helped many other families like yours navigate this difficult area. Fill out the form or give us a call and get your free case review. Our team is here to help.
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