The Murdoch Children’s Research Institute found that more children sustain head injuries from recreational sport than team sport, with bike riding out in front- but this is far from the whole story.
Bike riding was the sport most likely to lead to a presentation at an emergency department - 16% of the 8,857 presentations. It was also the most frequent cause of serious injury at 44%, but only 45 of the 3,177 sports-related head injuries in the study were serious and classified as clinically important Traumatic Brain Injury.
Most children can, and do learn to ride a bike. It’s relatively inexpensive to buy a child’s bike and helmet that can last several years, especially compared with the uniform, coaching and annual fees of rugby, AFL and soccer.
In the process of learning this new skill, most children will fall off, but not be seriously hurt. Bicycle NSW provides free resources to help parents teach children how to ride.
Children ride bikes daily on footpaths, shared paths and in the street, not in structured weekly training sessions on sports fields. This report forgets that the chances of being hit by a motor vehicle playing rugby are very different to on a ride to school. This is why Bicycle NSW successfully advocated to raise the age of footpath riding from under 12 to 16 years of age and make riding safer for children.
Unlike these other sports it was compared to, bike riding is a form of transport many children and families depend on. That’s why Bicycle NSW campaigns for safe, separated infrastructure suitable for bike riders of all ages, and for a raised footpath riding age till it’s delivered.
“Raising the age of footpath riding has helped more children travel to school safely over the last 12 months, and now we’re calling on the government to increase the age to 18,” said General Manager of Public Affairs, Bastien Wallace.
“Children riding to school has helped raise activity levels, reduce car trips and it hasn’t caused problems,” said Bastien.
With over 70% of Australian children not being physically active enough for health, it’s vital that children learn to ride bikes, swim, play sport and be active. Failing to do so for fear of injury raises the risk of many lifestyle diseases and poor mental health.
So why not check out the All About Kids section of our website for great learn to ride and safety resources?
