Heads Up! Keeping Kids on Bikes Safe from Preventable Head Injuries
from The Children's Hospital (TCH) News, September 2006
Children’s Hospital, as the lead agency of Safe Kids Metro Denver, is currently working with the Denver City Council to pursue a youth bicycle helmet ordinance for the city and county of Denver.
A number of city agencies and community organizations such as police, parks and recreation, public schools, and youth and family programs, are collaborating with Children’s to keep kids safe.
As currently proposed, the ordinance will require youth ages 1-15 years to wear a helmet when operating or riding as a passenger on a bicycle. Helmet distribution to low-income families and community education will continue to operate in conjunction with the legislative effort. Bicycle helmets have been shown to reduce the risk of head injuries by as muchas 85 percent, and the risk of brain injury by as much as 88 percent.
If successful, Denver will be the first local community in Colorado to pass youth bicycle helmet legislation, and could serve as a model for other communities across the state.
Every year almost 400,000 children across the country under the age of 15 are treated in emergency departments for bicycle-related injuries.
At Children’s, 1,332 children were treated in the emergency department for bicycle-related injuries over a five year period – that’s an average of more than five children per week, and nearly one per day! Children involved in these crashes sustained injuries ranging in severity from extremity fractures to cervical spine injuries and traumatic brain injuries. Children age 14 years and under are five times more likely to be injured in a bicycle-related crash than older riders.
In researching other communities that have successfully increased youth bicycle helmet use, there is a common theme – these communities passed legislation requiring youth to wear helmets. Not only do helmet laws influence both children and their parents to comply with wearing a helmet, they provide an opportunity for ongoing public awareness and reinforcement of a community’s interest in protecting children from injuries.
