Letter: Children?s bicycle safety education does not reduce injuries

Abstract

Learning to ride a bicycle is a common and joyful experience of childhood (up to 68% of children reported riding a bicycle in a two-week period) that has many health benefits. However, children have the highest bicycle-related injury rates compared to other age groups. In NSW, bicycle injury-related hospitalisations in people aged 5-14 years account for approximately half of all bicycle injury-related hospitalisations. A typical bicycle education program for children will involve a one-session program focusing on safe cycling information, with some time allocated to practising safe cycling skills. However, these programs have not been well documented or evaluated. We conducted a pilot study investigating the effectiveness of a bicycle education program in increasing safe cycling knowledge and behaviour in the Macarthur area of south-west Sydney.