Do your kids know their bicycle safety rules?

Already, the sunshine and heat has brought out all the traditional warm weather activities, including swimming, days at the park, picnics, and biking. Is there anything better on a warm day than a run through a sprinkler or a bike ride with friends?

I think the single biggest push for bicycle safety since I was a kid is the bicycle helmet. I don’t remember ever seeing kids wear these when I was tearing up the pavement on my banana-seated bike or my ten speed when I was older. Now, it’s rare around here to see a kid without one. That’s not a bad thing.

However, I think there’s still a long way to go before I’m confident that the kids are learning all there is to know about bicycle safety. Those same kids that are wearing the helmets are riding down the middle of streets, ignoring stop signs and pulling out in front of cars. I’ve seen it in our city neighborhoods as well as the more suburban ones. I know, kids will never put all of the safety information that they learn to use (we often don’t do it as adults!), but we need to make sure that we emphasize the importance of road safety as much as we do safety gear.

KidsHealth shares a good deal of information about bicycle safety, including road safety. So, let’s keep our kids, and ourselves, informed of the safest ways to ride, then get out there and have fun!