As summer vacation approaches, I hope you and your children are fighting this nation obesity problem by spending more time outside. If you and your children are spending more time outside doing things, encourage them to wear sunscreen and reapply it throughout the day. Trust me on this one. Having lived for Florida for good portion of my adult life, I have learned this one the hard way. People get sunburned even when they are not tanning. Who could have guessed. Save youself and your children some very uncomfortable and sleepless nights, wear sunscreen. Learn from my mistake.
Head injuries can be life changing or life ending. Falling from a bike can cause irreversible damage. So no matter how hard heading you think you and your children are, wear a bike helmet when riding your bike, skateboarding or rollerblading. Your children will resist this one but there are some things you can do to get them to wear it: wear one yourself, start them out wearing them when they are young, and take their equipment away for a period of time if they are caught riding without a helmet. It is that important.
After the long winter months, check all your sports equipment to make sure it is in top working order. Air up those tires, make sure nothing is torn or broken and most important check those sporting shoes for creepy crawly things.
Showing posts with label bike safety. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bike safety. Show all posts
Friday, May 25, 2012
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Update about the Importance of a Bike Helmet
Here is a story tailor-made for you if you are still on the fence about wearing a bike helmet. A young girl in Orlando fell off her bike right in front of a bus, and the back tire ran over the top of her head. Her helmet was broken into many pieces but she was home nursing just a few scrapes and scratches. Her father credits the helmet with the fact that he was not planning a funeral for his daughter this weekend.
Monday, November 22, 2010
The Rules of the Road When It Comes to Biking
Here are some must-know bike safety tips to teach your children. I have compiled these tips from several reliable sources on the internet.
1) Always ride with a helmet. Statistics and experiences of people I know support the incredible importance of this rule for children and adults.
2) Stop at all stop signs and obey traffic lights just as cars do. Yield to pedestrians, stop at red lights, and be especially careful at intersections.
3) Always ride in the same direction as cars do. Never ride against traffic. When walking or running, it is just the opposite, you should walk and run against traffic.
4) Try to use bike lanes or designated bike routes whenever you can — not the sidewalk! Everything that I read indicated that it was alright for younger children to ride on the sidewalk if a bike trail is not available.
5) Never ride at dusk or in the dark. If you need to ride at this time, be sure to wear reflective gear and also be sure your bike is also outfitted with reflective material, or lights are even better.
6) Always stop and check for traffic in both directions when leaving a driveway, an alley, a curb or railroad tracks. Be careful when going across the tracks, as several of my own family members have gone down when crossing these.
7) Watch traffic closely for turning cars or cars leaving driveways, or pulling out of parking spaces.
8) Don't ride too close to parked cars — doors can open suddenly.
9) Always walk a bike across busy intersections using the crosswalk and following traffic signals. Often people riding in hilly areas don’t like to follow this one because they want to get a running start at a hill. Better to have to work a little harder at making it up that hill than finding yourself nursing a serious injury.
10) When riding in a group, always ride single file on the street. This is one that we have all broken at one time or another. It is very important to follow this one on a busy road.
11) When passing other bikers or people on the street, always pass to their left and call out "On your left!" so they'll watch for you. My family also yells out when there is a car passing.
12) Never share the seat with a friend or ride on the handlebars — only one person should be on a bike at a time. It's easy to lose balance or suddenly swerve into traffic when riding with a passenger. I still have a chip out of my tooth and a scar on both knees to help remind me of the importance of this rule.
13) Never wear headphones while biking — it's essential to hear everyone else on the road at all times. I know that it is tempting to put on the iPod and tune out the rest of the world, my family have all purchased a small case that attaches to their bike. It holds their iPod and has speakers.
14) Never hitch a ride on a moving vehicle.
15) Never change directions or lanes without first looking behind you, and always use the correct hand signals. This is one that I am working on because I find it difficult to let go of my handlebars with one hand for very long. I have to believe that with practice I will get better at signaling.
Use your left arm for all hand signals:
Left turn: After checking behind you, hold your arm straight out to
the left and ride forward slowly.
Stop: After checking behind you, bend your elbow, pointing your
arm downward in an upside down "L" shape and come to a stop.
Right turn: After checking behind you, bend your elbow, holding
your arm up in an "L" shape, and ride forward slowly.
Keep in mind that it is important for you to model these rules for your children when you are riding your bike. Even if they don't always listen to you,they are always watching you.
1) Always ride with a helmet. Statistics and experiences of people I know support the incredible importance of this rule for children and adults.
2) Stop at all stop signs and obey traffic lights just as cars do. Yield to pedestrians, stop at red lights, and be especially careful at intersections.
3) Always ride in the same direction as cars do. Never ride against traffic. When walking or running, it is just the opposite, you should walk and run against traffic.
4) Try to use bike lanes or designated bike routes whenever you can — not the sidewalk! Everything that I read indicated that it was alright for younger children to ride on the sidewalk if a bike trail is not available.
5) Never ride at dusk or in the dark. If you need to ride at this time, be sure to wear reflective gear and also be sure your bike is also outfitted with reflective material, or lights are even better.
6) Always stop and check for traffic in both directions when leaving a driveway, an alley, a curb or railroad tracks. Be careful when going across the tracks, as several of my own family members have gone down when crossing these.
7) Watch traffic closely for turning cars or cars leaving driveways, or pulling out of parking spaces.
8) Don't ride too close to parked cars — doors can open suddenly.
9) Always walk a bike across busy intersections using the crosswalk and following traffic signals. Often people riding in hilly areas don’t like to follow this one because they want to get a running start at a hill. Better to have to work a little harder at making it up that hill than finding yourself nursing a serious injury.
10) When riding in a group, always ride single file on the street. This is one that we have all broken at one time or another. It is very important to follow this one on a busy road.
11) When passing other bikers or people on the street, always pass to their left and call out "On your left!" so they'll watch for you. My family also yells out when there is a car passing.
12) Never share the seat with a friend or ride on the handlebars — only one person should be on a bike at a time. It's easy to lose balance or suddenly swerve into traffic when riding with a passenger. I still have a chip out of my tooth and a scar on both knees to help remind me of the importance of this rule.
13) Never wear headphones while biking — it's essential to hear everyone else on the road at all times. I know that it is tempting to put on the iPod and tune out the rest of the world, my family have all purchased a small case that attaches to their bike. It holds their iPod and has speakers.
14) Never hitch a ride on a moving vehicle.
15) Never change directions or lanes without first looking behind you, and always use the correct hand signals. This is one that I am working on because I find it difficult to let go of my handlebars with one hand for very long. I have to believe that with practice I will get better at signaling.
Use your left arm for all hand signals:
Left turn: After checking behind you, hold your arm straight out to
the left and ride forward slowly.
Stop: After checking behind you, bend your elbow, pointing your
arm downward in an upside down "L" shape and come to a stop.
Right turn: After checking behind you, bend your elbow, holding
your arm up in an "L" shape, and ride forward slowly.
Keep in mind that it is important for you to model these rules for your children when you are riding your bike. Even if they don't always listen to you,they are always watching you.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Bike Safety: Why Now?
It may seem a strange time of the year to be discussing bike safety, but I am compelled to do it now for two reasons: where I live it has finally cooled down enough that this is the perfect time for biking, and many children receive bikes on Christmas morning.
When we were out biking as a family this weekend, I realized that I did not know the rules with regard to biking. Fortunately for me, the rest of my family is very familiar with the hand signals, and traffic rules for biking. They have been participating for several years now in a bike ride for Crohn’s and Colitis called Get Your Guts In Gear. This is a three day, 210 mile bike ride. I will be talking about this more in future posts because it is a very important event and community to my family since my son has Crohn’s disease, but I mention it now just to let you know why they are so familiar with the rules of biking and I’m not. I am a member of the crew for this ride. Upon returning from the family bike ride, I decided to do some research about the rules of biking. Future posts will outline what I have learned. I am also hoping that educating myself will help me become more relaxed when riding. I just started riding again last year, after not being on a bike for many years, and I took several spills at that time. Hand signaling, shifting and watching traffic has me very apprehensive, but I find bike riding a fun, family activity and want to get more comfortable at doing it. I don’t want to be left behind anymore while my family is training for the 210 mile ride. Let’s learn together.
When we were out biking as a family this weekend, I realized that I did not know the rules with regard to biking. Fortunately for me, the rest of my family is very familiar with the hand signals, and traffic rules for biking. They have been participating for several years now in a bike ride for Crohn’s and Colitis called Get Your Guts In Gear. This is a three day, 210 mile bike ride. I will be talking about this more in future posts because it is a very important event and community to my family since my son has Crohn’s disease, but I mention it now just to let you know why they are so familiar with the rules of biking and I’m not. I am a member of the crew for this ride. Upon returning from the family bike ride, I decided to do some research about the rules of biking. Future posts will outline what I have learned. I am also hoping that educating myself will help me become more relaxed when riding. I just started riding again last year, after not being on a bike for many years, and I took several spills at that time. Hand signaling, shifting and watching traffic has me very apprehensive, but I find bike riding a fun, family activity and want to get more comfortable at doing it. I don’t want to be left behind anymore while my family is training for the 210 mile ride. Let’s learn together.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Some Things to Consider When Picking Out a Bike Helmet
Having already covered the importance of wearing a bike helmet, here are a few tips to keep in mind when picking the right helmet for you and your child.
1) Make sure that the helmet has a CPSC or Snell sticker inside. These indicate that the helmet meets standards set by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) or the Snell Memorial Foundation, a nonprofit group that tests helmet safety.
2) Make sure your child’s helmet fits correctly and can be adjusted. A bike helmet fits well if it: sits level on the head, isn’t tilted forward or backward; has strong, wide straps that fasten snugly under the chin; is fastened tight enough that no sudden pulling or twisting could move it around. You should be able to get help with the proper fit and adjustments at any bike store.
3) Helmet should be well ventilated
4) Pick bright colored helmet in order to make your child more visible to cars
5) Make sure that they have fastened the chin strap tight enough and that they are not wearing a hat underneath the helmet
6) Helmet should be replaced if your child has hit a hard surface when wearing it, it loses it capacity to absorb shock
7) Helmets should not be worn at the playground or when climbing because the strap could get caught on something and result in choking
8) This may be the most important tip of all. Having your child help you pick out the helmet may make them more inclined to wear it.
1) Make sure that the helmet has a CPSC or Snell sticker inside. These indicate that the helmet meets standards set by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) or the Snell Memorial Foundation, a nonprofit group that tests helmet safety.
2) Make sure your child’s helmet fits correctly and can be adjusted. A bike helmet fits well if it: sits level on the head, isn’t tilted forward or backward; has strong, wide straps that fasten snugly under the chin; is fastened tight enough that no sudden pulling or twisting could move it around. You should be able to get help with the proper fit and adjustments at any bike store.
3) Helmet should be well ventilated
4) Pick bright colored helmet in order to make your child more visible to cars
5) Make sure that they have fastened the chin strap tight enough and that they are not wearing a hat underneath the helmet
6) Helmet should be replaced if your child has hit a hard surface when wearing it, it loses it capacity to absorb shock
7) Helmets should not be worn at the playground or when climbing because the strap could get caught on something and result in choking
8) This may be the most important tip of all. Having your child help you pick out the helmet may make them more inclined to wear it.
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