Bike Helmets Are a Must for Children
* What’s wrong with the pictures of the little boy attempting to ride a bicycle on the front page of the Valley section (May 6)?
Unfortunately, like the vast majority of kids, he was not wearing a bike helmet.
Each year, hundreds of healthy, beautiful children end up in chronic-care facilities for life due to head injuries from falls from bicycles. Bicycle accidents kill more young children than poisons, falls or firearms.
Head injuries from bike accidents can occur on streets, bike paths, sidewalks and in parks. The speed is not so much a factor as is the impact and the part of the head that’s hit.
Parents should think of bike helmets as they do seat belts. They should be used from the day a child first sits on a bike.
T. REARDON POLLINI
Pollini is a pediatric nurse practitioner at Kaiser Permanente Hospital, Panorama City
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