Child Injuries in Poway Bicycle Accidents

Bicycle accidents can involve people of any age, but children can be particularly susceptible to serious and fatal injuries in bicycle accidents in Poway and throughout Southern California. A recent article in People Magazine told the story of a 12-year-old girl who sustained traumatic brain injuries in a bicycle accident in the Los Angeles area and later died from the injuries. She had been riding her bike downhill with a friend when the accident happened. Despite wearing a helmet, her brain injuries proved fatal. The tragic accident underscores the serious risk of injury that kids can face in bicycle accidents and emphasizes the need for parents and guardians to learn more about safety precautions.

Learning More About Child Bicycle Accidents and Injuries

Child injuries in bicycle accidents are much too common. The following are some statistics from Stanford Children’s Health, Nationwide Children’s, and Safe Kids Worldwide:

• Every year, an average of 100 children suffer fatal injuries in bicycle accidents and approximately 254,000 kids suffer nonfatal injuries in these accidents;
• Bicycle-related accidents and injuries result in 25 children in the U.S. requiring treatment in an emergency department every hour, which is about 608 cases every day on average;
• Between 2006 and 2015, more than 2.2 million kids between the ages of 5 to 17 received treatment in U.S. emergency departments for injuries sustained in bicycle accidents;
• Child bicycle accident injuries happen most frequently in streets, with accidents at home (such as in driveways) being the second-leading site of child bicycle accidents;
• Kids under the age of 14 are at greater risk of injuries in a bicycle accident, with children between the ages of 10 to 14 at greatest risk;
• Male children account for a much high rate of bicycle accident injuries (anywhere from 70% to 83% of all report fatal and nonfatal bicycle accident injuries);
• Head injuries are the leading cause of death in child bicycle accidents, accounting for approximately 60% of all fatal injuries;
• Bicycle accidents involving a collision with a motor vehicle are responsible for about 90% of all child deaths in bike crashes; and
• Helmets are the best way to prevent a serious or fatal brain injury, yet only about 40% of all kids wear helmets while riding bikes and only about 35% of those kids who do wear helmets actually wear them properly.

Preventing Serious Bicycle Accident Injuries Among Children

What can parents and caregivers do to prevent serious bicycle accident injuries? According to Safe Kids Worldwide, it is critical for parents to require their kids to wear helmets and to ensure that their children are wearing the helmets properly. In addition, parents and caregivers should teach their children to ride safely, which often means avoiding busy roads with heavy traffic, riding recklessly, listening to music on headphones while bicycling, and other actions that can put the bicyclist at risk of serious harm.

Contact a Poway Bicycle Accident Lawyer

If your child was injured in a bicycle accident caused by a motorist or another party, you should seek advice from our Poway personal injury attorneys about filing a claim for compensation. Contact the Walton Law Firm today for more information.

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