Spring’s warmer weather means kids want to spend more time riding their bikes. Ensuring your kids know bicycle safety tips and the rules of the road reduces their risk of personal injury. The guidelines below will help you prepare your children for a healthy and fun-filled riding season. 

5 Bicycle Safety Rules to Prevent Personal Injury This Spring

1. Inspect Bikes Before Riding

Bicycle safety starts with a road-worthy bike. Inspect your children’s bikes thoroughly before they ride to check or faulty brakes and flat or under-inflated tires. This is especially important for bikes that have been stored in a garage all winter.

2. Always Wear a Helmet

Wearing a properly sized and fitted bicycle helmet is your child’s best protection against personal injury. A certified helmet can protect your child or teen from serious injury to their head or brain, according to the CDC. Make sure their chin strap is tightened accordingly as well.  

3. Ride With a Buddy

There is always safety in numbers when bike riding. It’s easier to see two or more riders than a single cyclist. Plus, if one has a problem or emergency, the other can assist or call for help. 

4. Wear Brightly Colored or Reflective Clothing

Brightly colored clothes and helmets make it easier for drivers to see your kids. Choosing gear with reflective materials or adding adhesive strips that glow will enhance visibility, especially near dusk and in low-light areas. That being said, encourage riding during sunny days and daylight hours.   

5. Look Both Ways Before Crossing Streets

Teaching your children the time-honored rule of looking right and left before crossing the street still applies when they are biking. Riders should be vigilantly checking for vehicle drivers and pedestrians who may be distracted. Walking bikes across streets is the safest way to cross.  

Backed by almost 40 years of experience, the personal injury attorneys at Ibold & O'Brien in Chardon, OH, help families recover damages after getting hurt in bicycle accidents throughout Geauga and Ashtabula counties. This team of dedicated and compassionate attorneys offers zealous representation to obtain full compensation for you from everyone who might be responsible for negligence. Protect your child’s right to ride safely. Visit the firm’s website for more about their legal services, including medical malpractice and estate planning. Call (440) 285-3511 to schedule a free consultation.