Fall 2004 archive of past newsletters

Two New Surveys on Bicycle Helmet Use

NATIONAL SAFEKIDS
According to a recent National SafeKids survey, helmet use may be increasing but few children are wearing helmets properly.

During September-December 2003, National SafeKids – a child safety advocacy organization – and its affiliates observed over 8,000 children and 1,300 adults in settings where they were likely to be using bicycles, skateboards, and skates. Overall, 41% (3,315) of the children and 39% (544) of the adults were wearing helmets.

SafeKids observers also noted whether the helmets were being worn properly. More than one-third of the children were wearing their helmets incorrectly – a loose or unfastened chin strap or a tilted helmet were the most common problems.

Parents and other adults had an important impact on children’s wearing rates. When there was adult supervision, 47% of children wore helmets. Without supervision, 37% were wearing them.

The helmet wearing behavior of adults also affected children. When adults were wearing helmets, 67% of children were wearing them. When riding with adults who were not wearing helmets, only 50% of the children were wore helmets.

Download the complete survey (727 Kb PDF)

UTAH BICYCLE HELMET SURVEY
Over a ten-year period, helmet wearing among all ages of bicyclists quadrupled - from 4.6% in 1994 to 19.9% today. Among elementary school students – the target of Utah’s helmet education programs – helmet use increased from 3.4% in 1994 to 20.2% in 2004. Adult bicyclists had the highest rates – slightly more than 37% wear helmets. Only about 3% of secondary school students were observed wearing helmets.

In schools and neighborhoods where the socioeconomic status (SES) was higher, wearing rates were greater. In wealthier neighborhoods, the helmet wearing rates were nearly 27% compared to about 12% in poorer areas.

About 30% of the helmeted elementary school children were not wearing the helmets correctly.

Download the complete survey (241 Kb PDF)

Editorial comment: Although the SafeKids survey reports the highest percentage ever recorded for helmet use, the survey most likely overestimates this wearing rate. SafeKids volunteers at sites that were targeted in the past for helmet safety education observed the children. In spite of this and other flaws in the study, it is heartening to see that more children are wearing helmets. The Utah survey showed a lower overall wearing rate, and it indicated that programs targeted at young children seem to be effective increasing helmet use.

Coupled with this good news, however, was some troubling news. In both the Utah and SafeKids surveys one-third of the children wearing helmets were wearing them incorrectly. Since strap and buckles adjustment can change over time, monitoring of the fit of a helmet must be ongoing. Parents should make sure that a child is correctly wearing his or her helmet.

The SafeKids survey underlined the observation that parental behavior really does make a difference in children’s wearing rates. Adults are role models for children. What they do, children imitate. Any helmet promotion activity for children needs to promote helmets for their adult caregivers as well.

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