From May 1 to 15, six children were admitted to Cook Children’s and two were treated and released from the Emergency Department. Last month, nine kids were admitted to Cook Children’s. Seven were admitted and two were treated and released.

Maybe it’s distracted drivers or maybe it’s the nicer weather. Regardless, it’s up to adults to keep an eye out for children walking or riding their bikes outside and not the other way around.

In the fiscal year of 2015, 34 kids were injured in auto-pedestrian collisions. The number increased to 49 in 2016 and more than 30 kids have already been injured this year.

“We’ve never seen numbers like we have so far and it’s not even the summer time, when more kids will be outside playing. Children do not have the cognitive skills to be crossing streets safely alone until at least age 10,” said Sharon Evans, Trauma Injury Prevention outreach coordinator at Cook Children’s. “They haven’t yet developed the depth perception or the ability to maturely judge the speed of an object.”

Kids age 10 and younger should not walk or ride bicycles, scooters or skateboards alone because they:

• Are easily distracted by friends and toys.
• Can’t determine the direction of sounds. Some children may be listening for sounds and may not realize that some newer model electric/hybrid may not make much of a sound at all.
• Can’t judge the speed or distance of a moving vehicle.
• Don’t understand how long it takes a vehicle to stop.
• Have too narrow a field of vision.

Even when kids reach age 10, it’s still best for parents to accompany them across the street, or to school whenever possible.

Teaching Your Child Pedestrian Safety

“When I visit children who have suffered pedestrian injuries, the most common thing they tell me is that they thought the driver saw them,” explained Evans. “It’s important to teach your children that just because they see a driver, it doesn’t mean the driver sees them. They need to make eye contact with the driver and wait for the driver to stop and signal to them before attempting to cross the street.”

While teaching your children to ride their bikes or walk outside, don’t forget to tell them to cross only at crosswalks; look left, right and then left again; and to watch for cars that are turning or backing up. The best way to teach your child pedestrian and bike safety is to be a good role model yourself. It’s also a good idea to encourage your children to wear bright clothing and reflectors when they’re walking before dawn or after dusk.

"It’s important for parents to remember they are the most important models of proper pedestrian behavior for children," said Dana Walraven, Community Health Outreach manager at Cook Children’s and Safe Kids Tarrant County Coordinator. "Parents should also make sure they follow the rules when they are driving in school zones, including going the speed limit at all times through the zone and not texting or talking on the phone."

Safe Kids recommend teaching your kids these safe behaviors:

• Look left, right and left again before crossing the street. Cross when the street is clear, and keep looking both ways while crossing. Walk, don’t run.
• Understand and obey traffic signals and signs.
• Walk facing traffic, on sidewalks or paths, so that you can see oncoming cars. If there are no sidewalks, walk as far to the left as possible.
• Require children to carry a flashlight at night, dawn and dusk. Add retro-reflective materials to children’s clothing so that a child can be seen by motorists, even in the dark.
• Don’t let kids play in driveways, unfenced yards, streets or parking lots. Drivers may not see or anticipate children playing.

For more information:

Bicycle Safety

Vehicle/Car Safety

Does your child wear a helmet while on a bike?

If not, statistics say you may make a visit to an Emergency Department near you very soon.

A report from Safe Kids Worldwide and Nationwide’s Make Safe Happen program found that nearly 40 percent of the 1,600 parents surveyed admitted their child doesn’t always wear a helmet while on wheels.

That’s despite the facts that more than 426,000 children – nearly 50 every hour – visited an emergency department in 2015 due to a wheeled sports-related injury.

• Serious head injuries, including concussions, internal injuries and fractures, made up 11 percent of those ED visits across the four-wheeled sports.

• Fractures to shoulder, arm, elbow, wrist or hand were the most frequent diagnosis for hospital admissions.

• 19 percent of hospital admissions for scooter injuries to children in 2015 were because of a head injury.

While head injuries are a concern, the majority of ED visits for wheeled sports in 2015 were for fractures, contusions and abrasions.

Less than 1 in 5 parents of children who scooter and less than 2 in 5 parents who kids skate said their kids always wear knee or elbow pads. Parents of children who skateboard reported less than 1 in 3 of their children always wear knee or elbow pads and less than 1 in 5 reported always wearing wrist guards.

Safe Kids says, “Between 2005 and 2015, the number of ED visits for bike- and skateboard-related injuries decreased, but visits for skate- and scooter-related injuries increased significantly. In fact, scooter-related injuries shot up by 40 percent over the 10-year period. Worryingly, the survey found that parents were least likely to make children wear a helmet while scootering at only 57 percent.”

From 2010 to 2013, less than 10 percent of patients seen at Cook Children’s for bike injuries had a helmet on and 0 percent of the patients on skates, skateboards and scooters wore a helmet.

Numbers have improved from 2015 to 2017 thanks to community education from groups like Peaks and Ladders, a collaboration between Cook Children’s, the Fort Worth Fire Department and Fort Worth Firefighter Charities.

During the past two years, 25 percent of children admitted for bike injuries wore helmets and it’s up to 10 percent now for kids on skates, skateboards and scooters.

“Those numbers are still too low, but we’ve made some progress,” said Sharon Evans, Trauma Injury Prevention coordinator at Cook Children’s. “It’s so important for kids to wear their helmets at all times. Even if they are taking a spin around their block, they need to wear a helmet. Injuries can occur anywhere, even when cars aren’t around. We’ve admitted children who have been injured in their driveways. Even little spills can result in concussions and broken bones.”

Evans said a great way to encourage helmet use is to let your child pick out the helmet and decorate it with stickers and markers to his or her liking. Then, make sure you set the example by wearing your helmet too.

Among parents who say they always wear a helmet, 86 percent say their child also does. However, among parents who say they never wear a helmet, only 38 percent say their child always does.

“With warmer weather ahead, your child will be spending more time on wheels – which means more opportunities for kids to get hurt,” Evans said. “The most important way you can teach your child to be safe is to always wear a helmet."

Safe Kids offers the following tips to help protect your child:

· Wear properly-fitted helmets, which are the best way to prevent head injuries and death, for every ride.

· Ride in safe locations like sidewalks, bike paths or bike lanes whenever possible.

· Follow the rules of the road.

· Check all equipment at the start or end of every season.

· Ride together until kids are comfortable enough to ride on their own.

For more information:

• Child Safety Center
• Bicycle Safety
• Safe Kids Worldwide