WORK SMARTER NOT HARDER: Kids Now Get Fewer Bike-Linked Head Injuries - But Grown Men Get More

Grown-ups need to wear helmets… especially grown men.

Riding a bike is fun, but it can also be dangerous. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s National Center for Injury Prevention (NCIP) says rates for bicycle-related injuries have declined among kids; but they have barely budged, among the growing number of adult bike riders.

Between 2009 and 2018, increasing helmet use, construction of dedicated bike lanes in cities and other safety interventions have greatly reduced bike-related traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), especially among kids ages 10 to 14.

The researchers say that the rate of emergency department visits for bicycle-related TBIs decreased by about 49 percent among children, but only by 5.5 percent among adults.

The data also shows that TBIs related to bicycling were three times as likely among males, and boys and men are also more likely to DIE from a bike accident than girls and women.

The experts believe that more education about bicycling safety is needed, targeted specifically at men and boys.

Dr. Robert Glatter, who practices at Lenox Hill Hospital adds, “With an increasing number of adults commuting to work in both urban and rural settings combined with escalating congestion in bikes lanes, the potential for TBIs but multisystem trauma is the reality.”

And the year of pandemic lockdown got more people riding bikes, than in many years, past. Small shops and large stores sold out, when lockdown started.

Kids have been grabbing that helmet before they go riding, for years. But most folks over the age of 30 have not developed the life-saving habit.

Roll here, for more: (UPI)