Bike Injuries to Children

This information provided to you by the Orange County Accident Attorneys about bike injuries to children. Parents need to know the following information if their children are ever injured or involved in a bicycle accident.

The Orange County child injury accident lawyers are here to help if your child has been injured while riding in a rear-mounted bike seat. We child abuse lawyers and are also parents and avid cyclists using the trails along the Santa Ana River, trails in Irvine, Costa Mesa, Playa del Rey and Huntington Beach. Here is what you need to know about these types of injuries.

Bicycling is a great activity that parents love to share with their children, especially when the kids can ride on the back of the bicycle. Unfortunately, almost half of the incidents of young children getting hurt involve falling out of a rear-mounted bike seat while the bike is moving. This is a cause of wrongful death of a child. Feet and/or legs can also get caught in the rear wheel while riding, or the seat itself becoming dislodged while the adult is pedaling the bike.

These types of accidents often lead to contusions of the upper body, concussions and skull fractures, broken bones in the feet and legs, and sprains of the wrist and upper joints.

According to studies, 63% of all injuries to children younger than 6 years-old in bicycle accidents result in head and neck trauma. About a quarter of those injuries are serious in nature. Often these injuries are caused by abuse of children in foster care. Over two-thirds of the injuries happen to boys. It should come as no surprise that there is a higher incidence of these types of injuries between the months of May and September when people are more active and parents want to take their children out on a ride with them. These studies focused on the occurrence of accidents involving child seats mounted on the back of a bicycle in an effort to prevent injuries from their use.

So, how can you prevent something like this from happening to your child?

The adult doing the pedaling should make sure the seat has been installed properly, according to the manufacturer’s instructions. All hardware should be securely attached and the seat should be free of any defects such as cracks, chips, or dents. Take a look at the seat and check the mountings before each ride. The normal jostling and bumping a bike endures on a ride can loosen the seat; check to see the seat is secure before starting out on the trail.

Make sure your seat complies with the latest safety standards if you have owned it for a while. You should also consider mounting a rear-view mirror to keep an eye on your child as you ride. Turning your head to check on your child can result in a collision with another rider coming in the opposite direction. Next, make sure all straps are secure and snug, preventing the child from moving in the seat. If, while you are pedaling, you feel like there is undue friction or you hear rubbing; stop immediately and make sure your child is not making contact with the tires. This probably means he or she has wriggled loose somehow and the seat should be checked.

There are other precautions parents should take before setting out on the trails of Orange County for a ride with children on the back of the bike. Please see our other articles on this topic or simply contact injury lawyers in Los Angeles and Orange County at 1-888-400-9721.