Bicycle safety knowledge and behavior in school age children

Journal of Family Practice, June, 1990 by Sanford R. Kimmel, Rollin W. Nagel

A simplified questionnaire enabled researchers to obtain a high response rate while minimizing interference with classroom time. It was not possible, however, to define the content of the bicycle safety instruction given by either the parents or the bicycle safety classes. Prospective studies should be undertaken to measure the effectiveness of various types of bicycle education programs both in terms of safety knowledge learned and in the reduction of the frequency and severity of bicycle injuries. These studies should include children of different demographic and socioeconomic groups, such as those in urban, rural, and inner-city areas.

Weiss and Duncan [14] found that family physicians and pediatricians are often aware of the importance of bicycle accident as a cause of childhood mortality and that head trauma causes most bicycle-related deaths. Many phisicians also realized that few children use bicycle helmets, which they attributed to parental unawareness of a helmet's importance. Less than 10% of physicians routinely discussed bicycle safety with their patients and parents, however, and 70% seldom discussed it. Currently the American Academy of Pediatrics is working through the Headsmart Coalition to increase the use of bicycle helmets by 20% over the next 3 years. [15] Primary care physicians should promote the use of bicycle helmets, work with educators or law enforcement officials to encourage the development of bicycle safety programs in their communities, and include information about bicycle safety as part of their routine preventive care.

References

[1] Ward A: Improving bicycle safety for children. Physician Sports Med 1987; 15:203-206

[2] Watts CK, Jones D, Crouch D, et al: Survey of bicycling accidents in Boulder, Colorado. Physician Sports Med 1986; 14:99-104

[3] Friede AM, Azzara CV, Gallagher SS, Guyer B: The epidemiology of injuries to bicycle riders. Pediatr Clin North Am 1985; 32:141-151

[4] Committee on Accident and Poison Prevention: Injury control for Children and Yough. Elk Grove Village, Ill, American Academy of Pediatrics, 1987, pp 80-89

[5] Baker SP, O'Neill B, Karpf RS: The Injury Fact Book. Lexington, Mass, Lexington Books, 1984, pp 265-267

[6] Selbst SM, Alexander D, Ruddy R: Bicycle-related injuries. Am J Dis Child 1987; 141:140-144

[7] Nixon J, Clacher R, Pearn J, Cocoran A: Bicycle accidents in childhood. Br Med J 1987; 294:1267-1269

[8] Kraus JF, Fife D, Conroy C: Incidence, severity, and outcomes of brain injuries involving bicycles. Am J Public Health 1987; 77:76-78

[9] O'Rourke NA, Costello F, Yellard JDN, Stuart GG: Head injuries to children riding bicycles. Med J Aust 1987; 146:619-621

[10] Weiss BD: Bicycle helmet use by children. Pediatrics 1986; 77: 677-679

[11] Fry EB: Fry Readability Scale. Providence, RI, Jamestown Publishers, 1976

[12] Williams AF: Factors in the initiation of bicycle-motor vehicle collisions. Am J Dis Child 1976; 130:370-377

[13] Fife D, Davis J, Tate L, et al: Fatal injuries to bicyclists: The experience of Dade County, Florida. J Trauma 1983; 23:745-755