Parents urge bicycle riders to wear helmets for safety

The Monmouth County Council of Parents and Teachers Association (MCCPTA) is an affiliate of New Jersey Congress of Parents and Teachers and the National PTA.

We, as advocates for all children and youth, are concerned about the lack of using bicycle helmets.

PTA strongly advocates for safety. Parents are concerned about the number of children and youth, especially teenagers, riding without helmets.

According to the Brain Injury Association of New Jersey, every year nearly 50,000 cyclists sustain serious head injuries.

Bicycle helmets reduce the risk of head injuries by 85 percent, and the risk of brain injuries by almost 90 percent.

Brain injury is the leading cause of death in bicycle crashes and the most important determinant of permanent disability (National Safe Kids Campaign, 1999).

We are sure that law enforcement officers in our country work hard to keep children and youth safe.

We also feel parents try very hard to protect their children, but it usually is the teenager who doesn’t wear their helmet just because it’s "not cool."

Because bike riding is more prominent in warm weather, as advocates of children and youth, the MCCPTA reaches out to parents to encourage youth to obey the helmet law and to remind them the importance of its use.

We hope law enforcement officers of Monmouth County will be proactive in reaching out to young riders about obeying this law.

As a reminder, the N.J. State Law requires anyone less than 14 years of age to wear a helmet.

The law includes inline skating and skateboards.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could get this law to include all bike riders, young and old alike?

Bike riders of all ages are riding after dark without complying to N.J. laws regarding specified required equipment:

• A front white headlamp that is seen at least 500 feet away

• A rear lamp with a red light seen 500 feet away

• A red reflector mounted on the rear

For additional safety, light-colored clothing will increase your visibility.

For more information, call the Brain Injury Association of New Jersey at (723) 738-1002, or e-mail info@bianj.org.

Also, contact the Monmouth County Council PTA through your local PTA, or the traffic safety department of your local police department.

Alice Hohweiler

Neptune

Theresa Stravic

Red Bank

Monmouth County Council of PTA’s Legislative Committee