11.02.2018

Taking Safety Up A Gear When Teaching Your Child To Ride A Bike



Teaching your kid to ride a bike is one of those emotional milestones of parenting. We all imagine that moment in the family photo album. What you may not imagine is the horror of a rush to the hospital if your kid comes off that same bike. That’s not such a pleasant scene, and it’s one you would rather avoid. Lucky for you, we’re going to look at how you can do just that.

Too often, we make the mistake of thinking bike safety is about sticking stabilizers on until our kids develop their balance. In reality, though, setting your kids off on their biking journey involves a whole lot more than that. You also need to make sure you provide the skills they need to stay safe when they start riding on a regular basis.

But, what exactly are these skills? How can you make sure your little one stays safe when using their first mode of transport? Keep reading to find out.

Teach them the importance of helmets



In vast amounts of bicycle accidents, riders are without helmets. It makes sense, then, that this is the first lesson you need to teach your youngster understands. Every time they head out on their bike, you need to make sure they’re taking a helmet. How you prove this point is down to you, but it may be worth getting real with them about this. You might even want to demonstrate with an egg and a hand-crafted helmet. Make sure they know what could happen if they don’t wear their helmet to hand. It may shock them somewhat, but you can bet they’ll never ride unprotected again.

Make sure they know the rules of the road

In an ideal world, you may want your little one to stick to your street on their bike at this stage. Still, it’s worth teaching them at least some basic bicycle road rules. Kids don’t always stay where we’d like them to. You need to know your kid could stay safe if they did wander out of those street boundaries. As can be seen from this article by Greene Broillet & Wheeler, LLP, failure to take note here can lead to serious accidents. Make sure, then, that your child knows about simple things like which side of the road to ride on, and how to avoid driver blind spots. These small pointers could be enough to save your child from any number of fatalities. They also provide useful reminders as they grow and take their riding further.




Set them up with basic bike knowledge

You should also teach your child basic bike knowledge. This is both practical and essential for safety. Knowing how to fix a puncture ensures your child doesn’t end up riding on blown tires. Being able to spot signs of trouble from a brief check before riding could also stop them from riding an unsafe bike. That alone could be the difference between life and death. So, what are you waiting for?

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