Child Bike Safety Tips for Dummies

Kids and Bicycle Safety

One of our founders is an avid cyclist, who regularly rides on a heavily-used rails-to-trails path near his home. In his defense, he avoids it like the plague on weekends... Be that as it may, he's often thought he should set up shop at one of the major intersections with a sign saying, "For $5 I'll teach you how to shift that bike." That probably wouldn't help today's DotD nominee, Gabrielle Applebury, understand her topic better; because she doesn't live nearby. Based on her LoveToKnow.com article, "Bicycle Safety Rules for Kids,"¹ it's highly likely that she also doesn't ride a bicycle anyway.

Why would we say such a mean thing about Applebury? Well, because she said some truly stupid things in her list of rules. Oh, no, we don't think it's stupid to say to "Wear a Helmet," although she probably should have proofread,

"Helmets should fit snuggly [sic], cover all areas of the head and stay in place while the child is moving."

Gabrielle might want to rethink that "cover all areas of the head" part, since the face should be exposed so the kid can see (and breathe)! But that's just amusing. It's when she gets to the bicycle itself that Applebury's lack of knowledge becomes clear. Check out these misstatements:

• Brakes: "There should be a brake pad that makes contact with the disc brakes when the handle bar levers are squeezed." – Disc brakes have two pads, not one (and most kiddie bikes don't have disc brakes anyway). Low-cost children's bikes have caliper brakes that clamp down on the wheel rim; single-speed bikes have coaster brakes. Oh, yeah, and the brake levers control individual wheels... in case you didn't know.
• Tires: "Listen for a hissing sound as your child walks her bike. This indicates a hole or slit in the tire that needs to be patched or replaced before riding." – A) If there's a hissing sound, the tire will be flat within seconds! Oh, and by the way? You don't patch tires, you patch tubes...
• Chain: "Before your child rides her bike, have her shift gears while walking it." – Ummm, Gabrielle? You can't shift bicycle gears unless the pedals are moving... and don't you think it would be a good idea to teach the child how to shift the bike? Assuming you know how?
• Seat: "Your child should also be able to put one or both feet down while still remaining in his bike seat." – Ummm, no: if you can put both feet on the ground while still in the seat, the bike is waaaaay too small. What she really means is that both feet should reach the ground when the child is straddling the bicycle.

Applebury missed crucial safety tip: teach the child to follow the rules of the road. Perhaps the most important safety rule of all is to ride on the correct side of the road, with traffic, and obey all traffic signs. All 50 states grant cyclists the full rights of a motor vehicle, and all of them also require that cyclists follow traffic laws. Failure to even mention this renders Gabrielle's "safety" tips well-nigh useless. Based on her poor understanding of the tips and links she assembled from multiple sources, it's pretty clear that Applebury is not a cyclist. At best, she's one of those who could probably use our founder's five-dollar lesson. If nothing else, she's well-qualified to be our Dumbass of the Day, bicycle division.

¹ The original has been deleted by the website, but can still be accessed using the Wayback machine at archive.org. Its URL was   https://safety.lovetoknow.com/household-safety-tips/bicycle-safety-rules-kids

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