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Consumer Information Center Use Your Head...Always Wear a Bike Consumer Information Center: Use Your Head...Always Wear a Bike Helmet
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some hard facts
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  • Bike crashes kill 900 people every year and send another 567,000 to hospital emergency rooms with injuries.
  • Every year, 350,000 children under the age of 15 go to hospital emergency rooms with bike-related injuries; 130,000 of these children suffer head injuries
  • Bike helmets can reduce the risk of head injury by 85 percent!

dear parents
         We've created this booklet to communicate one very important message: You and your child should always wear bike helmets when riding bikes. Please take a minute to read the following pages and talk with your children about the importance of wearing bike helmets.

did you know?

A recent national survey of bike riders says:
  • 57 percent don't wear a bike helmet every time they ride a bike.
  • 40 percent don't even own a bike helmet.
  • 41 percent of parents say their kids always wear a bike helmet when riding a bike - but only 29 percent of kids say they always wear one.
 
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bikes and helmets

  • Tricycle, bicycle, bicycle child carrier - you and your child should never get on or in one without a bike helmet.
  • A bike helmet is the single most effective safety device for reducing head injury and death from biking mishaps.
        

did you know?

Short rides close to home can be the most dangerous:

  • More than 60 percent of childhood bicycle-related fatalities occur on small neigherborhood roads.
  • The typical bike crash occurs within a single mile of home.
   

they go together

  • Kids learn by example, so set a good one by wearing your own bike helmet every time you get on a bike.
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did you know?

  • 95 percent of bike riders with helmets say that comfort is an important feature in a bike helmet.
  • Bike helmets are more comfortable, better fitting, and easier to wear than ever before, with excellent ventilation, lightweight materials... many even have a hole for a ponytail!

get in the helmet habit

A broken arm mends. A bruise heals. But a head injury can be forever.

Get in the "helmet habit" - make wearing a helmet a regular part of the biking experience, and keep yourself and your child healthy and safe.

Bike helmets must fit to be safe:

  • The helmet should fit snuggly enough so it doesn't slide from side-to-side or front-to-back.
  • The helmet should be worn level on top of the head, not tilted in any direction.
  • The chinstrap should be comfortably snug; to make sure the chinstrap is correctly adjusted, slide you finger under the strap, then remove your finger - the strap should snap back into place.

  

keeping kids safe:

what parents can do
 

{short description of image} Talk with your children about bike helmet and bike safety.

{short description of image} Set a good example - always wear a helmet every time and everywhere you ride a bike.

{short description of image} Help kids get in the "helmet habit" - make helmets a regular part of the biking experience.

{short description of image} Make sure bike helmets fit properly - snug but comfortable.
For more information about bike helmet safety, please visit www.bikehelmet.org or contact the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission toll free at 1-800-638-2772 or visit www.cpsc.gov.
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