I've been out riding my bike more, now that the weather's decent. Biking always reminds me of being a kid, probably because I rode so much back then. The thrill of going kinda fast, the freedom, the fresh air -- will I always feel 12 years old on a bike?
My neighbor Greg was in a bike accident two weekends ago. He was crossing a busy street (McCormick Boulevard) with the light, and either a) a car crept into the crosswalk in front of him, or b) he actually ran the red light. He's not sure, as the next thing he remembered was being in the ambulance and heading to the hospital.
He wound up with a concussion and a black eye, and spent a night in the hospital, but he's doing OK. Three other important details/thoughts:
- Greg's a responsible guy -- but accidents do happen. And some kids (e.g. mine) are known to be just a little less responsible.
- His helmet was really dented. Imagine if he hadn't been wearing one...
- He happened to have his wallet with him, so they were able to call his wife and have her come to the hospital. Do you carry any ID when you bike? Do your kids?
As follow-up, in addition to giving the kids a little lecture about bike safety, I labeled each of their helmets with their names and with my cell phone number. That way (assuming they're wearing them, which they'd better be) if anything bad happened I'd find out right away. I labeled my own helmet, too, with our home phone number.
I'll share some happy biking thoughts, probably next week, but wanted to get this message out there as summer arrives. Have the bike safety talk with your kids, make sure they've got some type of ID and wear their helmets, and follow the same advice yourself. Thanks.
Pat
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3 comments:
Great advice! I started wearing a helmet because I was making my kids wear one and didn't want to be hypocritical. Now I feel strange on a bike without one.
Patrick... I'm always a little concerned about "labelling" the kids names on anything that might be viewed by the public.
If someone called their name... that might cause your kids to think of them as less than a stranger... and it might not trigger the appropriate "stranger danger" response.
If you're labelling their helmets... make it small and on the inside... so that Medical Techs can find it easily... but it's not obviously apparent to passer's by.
Just my humble opinion
Alan: Seems like very sensible advice, especially for younger kids (more subject to real "stranger danger"). Thanks for sharing.
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