Regional Emergency Medical Services Authority

Children should always wear proper safety gear, including a helmet and knee and elbow pads to help prevent injuries. A person should wear a helmet each time he/she rides a bicycle, skateboard, scooter, as well as when they are roller blading and skating, to help protect his/her head. Helmets should meet the following standards Snell Memorial Foundation®, American Society For Testing and Materials (ASTM), and CPSC. Knee pads will help prevent injuries to the knee and elbow.

Protect your child from head injuries by ensuring that he or she is wearing a properly fitted helmet while participating in outdoor activities like bicycle riding, skateboarding and roller blading.

Helmets can be purchased for $8 at Washoe Health Resource Center adjacent to Washoe Medical Center, between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. No appointment is necessary, but you must bring your child along to be fitted for the helmet.

More than 70 percent of 5- to 14-year-olds – ride bicycles. This age group also rides about 50 percent more than the average bicyclist. So it’s not hard to understand why they also account for approximately one-quarter of all bicycle-related deaths and more than half of all bicycle-related injuries.
Head injury is the leading cause of death in bicycle crashes and is the most important determinant of death and permanent disability.
National estimates report that helmet use among child bicyclists ranges from 15 to 25 percent. It is lowest among children ages 11 to 14.
The single most effective way to reduce head injury from bicycle crashes is to wear a helmet. In fact, riders who don’t wear helmets are 14 times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash than riders who do.
It is estimated that motor vehicle collisions account for nearly 90 percent of all bicycle-related deaths. Collision with a motor vehicle increases the risk of death, severity of injury, and probability of head injury.
Children are more likely to die from motor vehicle-related bicycle crashes at non-intersection locations (74 percent), during the months of April through October (81 percent) and between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. (55 percent).
Children are four times more likely to be injured when riding in low light (nighttime, dawn or dusk) than in daylight.
Children are more likely to be injured on residential streets close to home. The typical bicycle/motor vehicle crash occurs within 1 mile of the bicyclist’s home; nearly 60 percent of all childhood bicycle-related deaths occur on minor roads.
Children under age 10 are more at risk. They are more likely to be seriously injured and suffer a higher proportion of head injuries.
Children ages 4 and under are more likely than older children to be injured around the home (driveway, garage, yard).
Unfortunately, a child’s behavior is often a risk factor. Most childhood bicycle-related fatalities are associated with behaviors such as riding into a street without stopping, turning left or swerving into traffic coming from behind, running a stop sign or riding against the flow of traffic.