Have you ever been outside on a hot summer day and seen a group of motorcyclist drive by? How many of those riders and their passengers were wearing a helmet? Or how many times have you seen a bicycle rider driving on the wrong side of the road, at night, in dark clothing? How about seeing two people on a small moped? While most of us have all seen these occurrences or similar variations we ourselves can also be guilty of these same offenses at one time or another. Accidents happen to all modes of transportation: pedestrians, bicycles, mopeds, motorcycles and cars. We need to prevent needless accidents, which result from a lack of knowledge of safety regulations and helmet use, by two wheel vehicle drivers. Today, I am going to go over some of the regulations for two wheel vehicles. And I will also be giving you some information on the importance of wearing a helmet and why we should all start wearing them.
When I was a junior in high school, a friend of mine, Sarah, a sophomore, was driving to school one day. On the way to school, a boy on a bicycle came out from between cars in an attempt to cross the street. She didn't see him until it was to late. She hit him going approximately five miles per hour. The boy was taken from the scene by paramedics and rushed to the hospital. Three hours later the boy died from head injuries. It is estimated that 75% of bicycle related fatalities among children could have been prevented if they had been wearing a bicycle helmet. Had this boy been wearing a helmet he would have greatly increased his chances at living. .
According to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine's May 25,1989 issue, bicycling accidents cause many serious injuries and in the United States, about 1300 deaths per year, mainly from head injuries. Most of these resulted in careless driving from either driver, or a lack of knowledge of rules. The accident with the boy was actually caused not by fault of the person driving the car but that of the bicyclist.