The Helmet Update
Volume 26, #1 - August 19, 2008
All issues index
Updated statistics from CPSC
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued a "back to school" press release containing the statistics below. Some
are new numbers.
Helmet Safety
Wear a bicycle helmet when biking or riding a scooter to and from school. Make sure your child's bicycle helmet has a
label stating it meets CPSC's mandatory safety standard. Wearing a bicycle helmet can reduce the risk of head injury by
as much as 85 percent.
CPSC staff has reports of an annual average of 80 children under 16 years of age who died in bicycle-related incidents in
recent years. About half of the 500,000 bicycle-related emergency room-treated injuries in 2007 involved children under
the age of 16. When taking part in other recreational activities, wear the right helmet for that activity. Read CPSC's
"Which
Helmet for Which Activity" publication, helping you choose the most appropriate helmet.
More than 80 percent of the nearly 50,000 emergency room-treated injuries involving unpowered scooters in 2007 were to
children younger than 15. In addition to wearing a helmet, CPSC recommends elbow and knee pads when riding a scooter.
The Helmet Update - Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute
Randy Swart, Editor
4611 Seventh Street South
Arlington, VA 22204-1419 USA
(703) 486-0100 (voice)
(703) 486-0576 (fax)
www.helmets.org