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Play It Safe
Avoiding Recreational Hazards
Falls and collisions with stationary objects or with another bicycle are perhaps the greatest cause of injury for children. In fact, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the greatest number of recreational injuries to children in the year 2000 occurred while the child was riding a bicycle. Although the report is quick to point out that most of these injuries were from bruises, broken arms and wrists, there were more than 125,000 fractures among bicycle riders.
"Fractures, breaks or a crack in a bone can be particularly serious in children because the bone is growing," says Dr. Bernstein. "The fractures frequently involve the growth plate (that area from which the bone grows), and any injury to the growth plate can cause the bone to stop growing or to grow in an abnormal direction. For this reason, injuries to children can be more serious – they are not just small adults."
His advice: "Make hard fast rules for your kids as to when, where and how they can ride their bike. Younger children have not yet fully developed their balance and coordination and are thus more likely to steer into oncoming traffic."
To reduce your child's chances of being injured while riding a bike, younger children should not ride their bicycles at night when it's hard for motorists to see them.
"Riding a bike at night takes skills that younger children have not developed, so parents need to rule out night riding for their younger kids," says Dr. Bernstein. "Teens, on the other hand, are bigger and usually more visible. But common sense dictates that they should use reflectors, wear bright-colored clothing and have a light on their bike so that they can see what's in their path as well as be seen by motorists."
Traffic poses another problem for young riders, who do not yet know how to navigate it. "Don't let your young children ride their bikes on busy streets," says Dr. Bernstein. "On the other hand, kids must be taught early on to obey all traffic signs, particularly stop signs and to walk their bicycles across busy streets. Above all, they should wear a helmet that fits properly to avoid head injury."
