Well, you can come by the Cambria Toy Station this Saturday or Sunday (Saturday April 25, 11 AM to 6 PM or Sunday April 26, 1 PM to 5 PM), register your/your child’s bike and get a free child’s bicycle helmet (while they last). You can also go by the Police Department to do the same. (No purchase required.)
Kudos to Mike Barber for bring this issue before town council.
Recent research shows that head injuries (even for those wearing bicycle helmets) has increased by 10 percent since 1991. Perhaps this is due to the fact that more and more people are using this form of transportation.
Does this mean that helmets do not help? ABSOLUTELY NOT! That same article shows that even if head injuries occur, brain injuries are reduced by as much as 88%. So for an ‘insurance’ of less that $10 (in many stores) you may not be able to prevent an accident, but you can significantly reduce the possibility that your child or you would sustain a significant head injury.
Good bicycle safety is equally important. Follow the rules, ride with courtesy and respect, watch out for the other driver/rider, all of these are just good common sense.
Spring is definitely in the air. Traffic has become more and more of an issue in Christiansburg, and more people are using bicycles. Now is the time to take that extra step in safety by obtaining a bicycle helmet for you and/or your child. That will be particularly true if Christiansburg does what the state allows and makes it mandatory for all bicycle riders under the age of 14 to use a bicycle helmet.
If you don’t feel this is important, simply stop any police officer, nurse, doctor, psychologist, physical therapist, speech therapist, etc. Ask that person if they have ever dealt with someone who has had a head injury while riding their bicycle. Then ask if they recommend wearing a helmet.
I hope that when this ordinance comes before town council that every health care professional and bicyclist group in the region comes to that meeting and lends support to an ordinance that could save lives.
If you are the driver of a vehicle, it could be you that accidentally hits a person of any age who is riding a bicycle. Wouldn’t it be nice to know that people were wearing helmets and that by doing so, there would be far less damage done to the person. After all, it is not just the bicycle rider who has to live with the results of an accident.
