| 05/05/2001 | |
CPSC Reminds Bicyclists to "Use Your Head
by Wearing a Helmet"
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety
Commission (CPSC) has been reporting for years that wearing a helmet while
riding a bike can save your life. Cole Kertz, an 8-year-old from Bloomington,
Ill., can now vouch for this first-hand. Doctors tell him if he had not
been wearing his helmet, he would have died last summer when he crashed
into a pole while riding his bike. Even with the helmet, he suffered a severely
broken jaw, which had to be wired shut to heal.
Cole is better now and using his experience to spread the word about how
important bike helmets can be. "Some of the other kids at school didn't
used to wear helmets," said Cole. But after his return to school last fall
with the injury still healing, and after hearing the story of how his helmet
saved him, Cole thinks it has convinced his friends to always wear a helmet.
"I guess they thought, 'I don't want to die.' "
"Each year, about 900 bicyclists do die, and more than a
half- million bike riders are injured seriously enough to go to hospital
emergency rooms," said CPSC Chairman Ann Brown. "Use your head by wearing
a helmet, like Cole did. It can not only reduce the severity of head injuries
suffered by bicyclists, it can save your life."
According to a survey released in 1999 by CPSC and the McDonald's Corp.,
only about 50 percent of bicycle riders in the U.S. regularly wear bike
helmets. Of the estimated 80 million bike riders, 43 percent never wear
a helmet and 7 percent wear helmets less than half the time.
CPSC is participating in a national strategy to make it safer for bicycle
riders to use the nation's roads by, in part, promoting bike safety and
helmet use. The strategy, entitled the National Strategies for Advancing
Bicycle Safety, was prepared by a coalition of representatives from more
than 60 groups, including CPSC, other federal and state agencies, professional
and non-profit groups, and bicycling advocacy organizations. For more information,
go to www.cdc.gov/ncipc/bike.
According to the CPSC, not only do bicyclists of all ages need to always
wear helmets when biking, they also need to make sure their helmet fits
properly. Helmets should be worn low on the forehead, about two finger widths
above the eyebrows. They should sit evenly between the ears and flat on
the head. Tighten the chin straps and adjust the pads inside so the helmet
feels snug and secure, and doesn't move up and down or from side to side.
When purchasing a new helmet, bicyclists should make sure it meets the current
safety standard issued by CPSC. The standard ensures that helmets provide
excellent head protection and that the chin straps are strong enough to
keep a helmet on the head and in place during a fall or collision. Look
for a label inside the helmet which states it is certified to comply with
CPSC's standard.
For more tips on bicycle safety and information on recalls involving bicycles
and bike helmets, call CPSC's Hotline at (800) 638- 2772, or go to CPSC's
web site at www.cpsc.gov.
www.cpsc.gov
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