Wheeled Sports Safety

Keep your kids safe by first setting a good example for them when participating in wheeled sports like cycling, scooting or skating.

Parents: Keep Safety on the Brain!

Always wear a properly fitted helmet that meets the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) standards when cycling, skating, skateboarding or scooting.
Wear the right gear in addition to a helmet! For skating and skateboarding, kids should wear properly fitting knee pads, elbow pads and wrist guards. For scooting, kids should wear properly fitting knee pads and elbow pads.
Inspect bicycles to make sure they are the appropriate size, with secure reflectors, working brakes, smoothly shifting gears and tires that are secured tightly and properly inflated.
Incorporate retroreflective material into clothing, footwear, accessories, the wheeled vehicle or all of these, especially at dusk and dawn or when weather is bad. Use both lights and reflectors on bikes.

Wear helmets correctly – centered on top of the head and always strapped and buckled. A helmet should be snug and not rock back and forth or side to side.
Never ride when it’s dark.
Always cycle, scoot or skate on sidewalks, paths, driveways or other designated areas, if they are under age 10.
Ride with traffic flow and as far to the right as possible.
Always obey traffic signals and lights.
Look back and yield to traffic coming from behind before turning left. Use appropriate hand signals to alert cars and pedestrians when turning left or right.
Many locations have bicycle education classes that teach children proper riding and traffic skills. To learn more, go to safekids.org or bikeleague.org.