Dear Guilford students – On April 19 I got a phone call that NO parent wants to receive, that my son was critically injured riding his bike to school with no helmet. He made a big mistake crossing Friendly Ave against the light and is paying dearly for that. A helmet would not have prevented his injury but the doctors have said it would have been much less severe. We all make mistakes in life and hopefully learn from them. I hope that you guys will also learn from Sam’s mistake.His bike accident happened in the blink of an eye, no way or time to stop. Please for his sake, your parents and your own consider the risks of not wearing a helmet when you bike to and from campus. Lets start a HELMET HABIT at Guilford for everyone, staff and students. Please, please don’t let this happen again to another student or to their parents.
- About 75% of all bicyclists who die each year die of head injuries
- 85% of head injuries in bicycle accidents can be prevented by wearing a helmet
- In 2000, 51,000 bicyclists were injured in traffic-related crashes
- Non-helmeted riders are 14 times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash than helmeted riders
- 85-88% of critical head and brain injuries can be prevented through the use of a bicycle helmet
- By wearing a helmet, an injury can be prevented every 4 minutes
- Universal bicycle helmet use by children ages 4-15 can prevent 39,000-45,000 head injuries, and 18,000-55,000 scalp and face injuries annually
- In the year 2000, 90% of bicycle fatalities occurred to riders not wearing helmets
http://www.headinjuryctr-stl.org/statistics.html
http://www.thinkfirst.org/teens/BicycleSafety.asp
