Accident reminds mom to teach safety (10/10/05)

To the editor:

Monday, Sept. 12, 2005 is a day that will forever stay in my memory. It started as any other day for me and my family, but at 6:20 p.m. an event occurred that I will never forget. My son, less than two weeks from his 10th birthday, rode to the Jay Community Center. He made it there and accomplished what my husband and I sent him there to do. On the way back he was hit by a car. It was an accident plain and simple. He did not see the car and rode out in front of it. Luckily, the car did attempt to stop.

My son was taken to Jay County Hospital with minor injuries. He ended up with nine stitches in his scalp and abrasions on his ear, shoulder, elbow, ribs and leg. As uncomfortable as this is, it is a small price to pay. This event could have had a much different ending, and it brought three important issues to my attention.

First, this accident made me realize the importance of continually reinforcing general bicycle safety. My son is usually a safe rider, but this made me realize that our children constantly need reminders to reinforce what they already know.

Bicycles should follow the same rules as vehicles. They should always ride to the right of the road and follow street signs and signals. At intersections, they need to come to a complete stop, look both ways, and if it is a busy intersection, walk the bike across. We also need to teach our kids hand signals so vehicles know what the bicyclist is planning and can react.

Secondly, I am from a generation that never wore helmets and I just do not think about making my children wear them. My family doctor said that we have more traffic on the roads today than when I was a child, making it more important for us to enforce helmet usage.

I found that approximately 315,000 children under the age of 14 were treated in emergency rooms in 2001 because of bicycle accidents. Head injuries are the No. 1 cause of death in wheeled sports-related accidents. I also learned that a fall of as little as two feet can result in skull fracture and/or brain injury. Just wearing a helmet can reduce the risk of head and brain injuries by as much as 85 and 88 percent, respectively. Needless to say, all three of my children will be wearing helmets in the future.

And finally, as drivers we need to be more aware of bicycles. We need to limit our distractions. I know it is hard to not be distracted when you have screaming kids in the car or a cell phone ringing. I have been there, because all it takes is a second and an accident could occur.

We as parents can become advocates for our children by requesting our city leaders to enact mandatory helmet laws. We should also ask for strict enforcement of this law after it is in place. Only 20 states have mandatory bicycle helmet laws. Brownsburg has enacted and enforced this law. Why don’t we follow suit? We need to continually reinforce bicycle safety instruction in the home and at school.

My son is very fortunate to be alive, and I am extremely fortunate to have him alive and in one piece. I hope that no other parent has to go through this, because no matter how minor the accident is, it is frightening. I hope that other parents will learn from this and teach their children bicycle safety and put helmets on them. I hope our city leaders will enact a mandatory helmet law to protect our children. Most of all, I hope that no other child has to experience this.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Miller

Portland[[In-content Ad]]