Brain Injury Association of New York State

Bicycle Safety

New York State law requires that children under 14 wear helmets while bicycling and in-line skating. Common sense requires that everyone wear a helmet when bicycling and in-line skating

Riding a bicycle can be a lot of fun. Bicycles can be a means of transportation, physical fitness or racing. However, bicycle riding poses many risks and should always be done correctly. Children should never abuse the right to ride a bicycle.

Crash Statistics

A child is four times more likely to be seriously injured in a bicycle crash than kidnaped by a stranger.
More kids, ages 5-14 go to the hospital emergency rooms with injuries related to biking than with any other sport.
Each year, about 567,000 people go to hospital emergency departments with bicycle-related injuries: about 350,000 of those injured are children under 15. Of those children, about 130,000 sustain brain injuries.
Each year, bicycle crashes kill about 900 people; about 200 of those killed are children under the age of 15.
Statistics show that between 70 and 80 percent of all fatal bicycle crashes involve brain injuries.
Ninety percent of bicycle related deaths involve collisions with motor vehicles.

Who, What, When and Why?

The number of people who ride bicycles rose from 66.9 million in 1991 to 80.6 million in 1998.
Distribution of bicycle deaths in 1996: 49 percent of all deaths occurred between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m.
Summer: May, June and July have the highest percentage of bicycle related deaths.
Males are 6 times more likely to die in a bicycle crash than females.
In 1996, 33% of deaths occurred at intersections.
Bicycle incidents are most likely to occur within five blocks of home.
Almost half of all bicycle crashes occur in driveways and on sidewalks.

Bicycle Helmets

Ninety-six percent of bicyclists killed in 1996 were reportedly not wearing helmets.
Medical research shows that 88% of cyclists' brain injuries can be prevented by a bicycle helmet.
About 50% of all bicycle riders in the U.S. regularly wear bike helmets while riding a bike - a rise from 18% in 1991.
Of the 50% of bikers who regularly wear a bike helmet, 43% said they always wear a helmet and 7% said they wear a helmet more than half of the time.
Bicycle helmets reduce the risk of brain injury in the event of a crash or fall by almost 90 percent.
Universal use of helmets could prevent one death every day and one brain injury every four minutes.
Half of all bike riders, however, do not regularly wear a helmet, which is the single most effective protection against brain injury.
Having friends or parents who wear bike helmets significantly encourages children to use them.
Educational campaigns are proven to increase bike helmet use by more than one third and decrease the incidence of bicycle-related brain injuries by more than 60 percent among children.

Bicycle Helmet Checklist

Buy a helmet that meets the safety standards of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the Snell Memorial Foundation or the American Society for Testing and Materials.

Always do these things to ensure a proper fit:

Tighten the chin strap to keep the helmet from slipping forward or backward.
Only two fingers should fit under the chin strap
Place the helmet directly over the forehead