Bicycle Helmets & Brain Injury Prevention: Should Helmets Be Required for Bike-Riding Children?

According to the Union-Bulletin Editorial Board, more and more children (at least in the board's area of Walla Walla, Washington) are riding bikes without wearing helmets.  The board believes that the decreasing numbers of children wearing helmets while riding bicycles is due in part to a lack of emphasis on the importance of safety while bike riding.  According to the board's website, children under 12 seemed to wear their helmets more readily when on bicycles about a decade ago, during the time when bike safety was a hot topic.  Should children be required to wear bicycle helmets when riding bikes?  Statistics from the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute indicate that they should:

• Bicyclists who do not wear helmets are 14 times more likely to be killed in an accident than those who wear helmets.

• Over 60 percent of bicycle-related fatalities result from head injuries, which are often brain injuries.

• The percentage of bike-related brain injuries that could be prevented by the use of a helmet is estimated to be between 45% and 88%.

Along with sports, abuse, and car accidents, bicycle accidents are a common cause of child or teenage brain injuries.  Any blow to the head can result in a brain injury with serious side effects, no matter how insignificant the injury may seem at first.  If your child or teenager has been injured in bike accident that you believe may have resulted in a head injury, concussion, or brain damage, seek medical attention as soon as possible.  As a child brain injury lawyer who works with the medical experts in the field, Chris Keane is an advocate for injured or abused children, and he will answer your most pressing brain injury questions for free with compassion and professionalism.

Contact Chris Keane online or by phone at 1-888-592-KIDS.