Kids Speak Out on Bike Helmets CPSC Urges Bicyclists to Wear Helmets Information and news releases furnished by the members of PR Newswire, who are responsible for their fact and content. With the arrival of spring and warmer weather, children on bicycles will become a common sight among neighborhood sidewalks. And, fortunately, more and more communities are enacting protective helmet laws for children operating recreational equipment, such as Lakewood, which adopted such a law on April 1.
Statistics indicate why.
According to the American College of Emergency Physicians, almost 250 children under age 14 die in bike accidents each year. Another 400,000 are treated for bicycle injuries. More than half of these deaths and approximately 40,000 head injuries could be prevented if children wore bike helmets. He reports that Fairview treats at least one bicycle injury every other day, and one severe injury each week in the summer. Protective helmets reduce the risk of serious injury by 85 percent, and the risk of brain injury by 90 percent.