The following are some of the most frequently asked legal questions as answered by a Charleston personal injury lawyer. To learn more or discuss what steps you should take next, call and schedule a consultation today.
What Is The Most Common Cause Of Children’s Bike Accidents?
One of the reasons that children have the highest rate of nonfatal bike related accidents is because their depth perception, their distance perception, and their speed perception aren’t fully developed and that causes them to be more prone to get into bicycle accidents that adults are able to avoid.
What Safety Rules Should All Kids Follow?
They have got to wear a helmet every time. They need to ride on the right hand side of the road. They need to follow all traffic signals and know what the traffic signals mean. They need to use hand signals for left and right turns and stop at all intersections to look both ways, and they need to know to yield to pedestrians- that pedestrians have the right of way, to wear proper clothing and that a bike needs to have a light and a bell on it.
Is Wearing A Bike Helmet More Accepted And No Longer Uncool For Kids?
Yes, you know when I was a kid, helmets weren’t cool. Almost nobody wore them, but now you’re seeing them more and more. But there are still way too many kids without bike helmets and whenever we do a helmet giveaway they are extremely well received from parents and kids. I think with the advent of things like the X Games that have become more popular with kids, and you see extreme athletes wearing helmets on TV doing cool stuff and looking cool, then helmets have become much more accepted by kids today.
How Important Is Size, Fit And Age Of The Helmet?
The fit is the most important thing in bike helmets. A helmet that doesn’t fit properly is not going to protect you the way it should. The bike helmets should be snug, shouldn’t rock from side to side. It needs to be level, one or two finger lengths above your eyebrows and it needs to have a chin strap that’s buckled underneath your chin to wear. If you make a yawning motion it should pull the helmet down a little bit.
What Is Most Important To Consider When Buying A Bike For Your Child?
It’s got to fit correctly and it’s probably the best idea to go buy your bike at a bike shop rather than a large retail store, where you can have a professional help you fit the bike to the child, make sure that their feet reach the pedals properly and that they can put their feet on the ground without putting themselves in danger.The NHTSA, the National Highway Traffic and Safety Association provides children’s biking safety guidelines. Their guidelines talk about when fitting your bike, when the child is standing over the bicycle, there should be at least one to two inches between the child and the top bar of the bicycle.
