Are you curious about whether you have grounds for a legal claim following a bike accident? As an adult, you’ve had plenty of riding practice to ensure that you know how to stay out of traffic and avoid many common causes of bike accidents. But research now shows that kids are more at risk for getting into bike accidents especially during the summer, and all of these crashes can mean bad outcomes in terms of injury severity.
Being out on their bikes during the summer puts children at risk of being involved in serious or even catastrophic and fatal injuries. Details from the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Center for Injury Research and Policy discovered that although there had been a decrease in the rate of injuries over the last 10 years, there were still more than 2.2 million injuries associated with children and bicycle accidents, particularly for children between the ages of 5 and 17. Most of the injuries were logged with boys at 72% and children between the ages of 10 and 14. The most commonly injured area for kids on bikes were the upper extremities followed by the lower extremities, face and head and neck.
Bruises and scrapes, traumatic brain injuries and cuts were also commonly logged as far as injuries that affected children. Most often, these accidents occurred in the street with just under half of the accidents logged occurring in the street and most of the remaining occurring at home. Wearing a helmet while riding a bike is still the leading way to prevent serious injuries while a child is on a bike. Having an adult always monitor children who are riding bikes in the neighborhood is another excellent way to minimize the chances of injuries and regularly enforcing safety tips and encouraging children to wear safety gear is extremely important. The support of a lawyer is essential when you need to file a lawsuit against a party who is allegedly responsible for your injuries.