Bike Safety

Ok friends - let's talk about Bike Safety

Bike Safety comes down to one main thing – helmets! As a mom, helmets are the BANE of my existence. It is annoying having to fight with my kids (and to be honest, my husband, too) about wearing a helmet when you ride your bike EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. As a trauma nurse practitioner, I will tell you – HELMETS. SAVE. LIVES. I have seen too many kids with devastating injuries from not wearing a helmet, and so many kids who have bad accidents who were wearing a helmet that saved their life.

Whether or not your kids are just going for a little cruise down the drive way, or down the street to a friend’s house, you can’t control factors that might get in their way and cause them to fall. Kids also get hit by cars. A LOT.

You would be surprised how many kids get hit by cars, and guess what? Helmets save lives.

We have all see kids cruising down the street with their helmets on the handlebars, or on their head but not strapped under the chin. That helmet is useless unless it is on, strapped, and fit properly. Also if the helmet is hanging way back on their head, it is also not going to do much to protect their heads if they fall on their face. I have to hold myself back from yelling at those kids outside my car window to strap on their helmets when I see it flapping in the wind. I may or may not have done that before 😉

And what about ebikes?

Let’s also talk for a minute about electric bikes and scooters (more on this in another post here), but the speeds that kids can reach on those will worsen any fall, cause worse injuries, and have an increased risk for bad outcomes. Kids on electric vehicles (and they are exactly that- vehicles) should be wearing a helmet every single time.

What kind of helmet do you need?

Any kind of bicycle helmet that fits is the only kind of helmet you need. A helmet needs to fit properly too to be effective so check out this little video that Two Wheeling Tots put together to show how to properly fit a child’s helmet.

There are so many helmets on the market right now. You can get them at all stores like Target and Walmart and all sporting goods stores.

I totally recommend these helmets below – they are lightweight and come in many colors. If you kids want to personalize them, they can use vinyl stickers to make them more exciting.

Again, I love these two options for all-sport, adjustable helmets for kids of all sizes: