Floyd Memorial Hospital & Health Services

Summer has arrived and children are gearing up to enjoy the outdoors on their bikes. While inflating the tires and checking the brakes are important  – a helmet is essential. Head injuries from riding a bike are the most preventable summertime injuries.

“The most important thing to prevent head injury is to wear a helmet every time you ride a bike,” said Casey Bittenbender, MD, a primary care physician in New Albany. “Adults and children should always wear a helmet no matter how short the distance traveled. Each year more than 267,000 bicycle injuries occur. But wearing a bicycle helmet can reduce the risk of injury by 85 percent and the risk of brain injury by as much as 88 percent.”

 Follow these three steps to properly fit a helmet before riding a bike:

• When looking upward the front rim should be barely visible to the eye
• The Y of the side straps should meet just below the ear
• The chin strap should be snug against the chin