Helmet Safety         


Do you wear a helmet when you ride your bike, motorcycle, skateboard, or ski? Do your kids? We know that the number one rule in parenting is leading by example. Have you noticed how many parents are out riding bikes with kids who are wearing helmets while the parents are not? The excuses are endless…too expensive, not comfortable, not necessary, “I didn’t grow up needing to wear a helmet”…

The best bike handlers in the world go down every year. Just watch the Tour de France. Having an accident is not always in our control either. There are animals running loose, other riders, cars that may not see us, and machines we are riding that can fail. In these recreational sports our bodies are very susceptible to injury when coming into contact with roads while unprotected often at high rates of speed.

The fact of the matter is that there are 67,000 ER visits per year due to head injury from bicycle accidents. Direct costs of cyclists' injuries due to not using helmets are estimated at $81 million each year. It is estimated that 1 of 8 ER visits for head injury result in permanent brain injury, and that up to 88% of these injuries would have been prevented by wearing a helmet.

Many of you know that I had a mishap in a race last year and suffered a brain injury that bought me a helicopter ride and a night in University of Iowa Hospital. I was wearing a helmet which broke into 3 pieces that saved my life. I keep it in the clinic if you ever want to see it just ask. Many of us didn’t grow up wearing helmets or seatbelts for that matter, but how many of us get into the car now without wearing our seatbelts. My hope is that putting on a helmet becomes just as routine.

Please lead by example with your family, in your neighborhoods and at your schools. While we hate to imagine our children becoming a statistic, our kids need their parents around also.


For more information on helmet safety go to www.helmets.org/index.htm