Safety First: Cycling Helmets and Seat-belts

This morning after dropping my son at school I took a walk around the neighbourhood, a lovely walk, through the park and adjoining cricket grounds ... lots of trees and a view of the mountain. It is good to see so many children cycling and walking to school but I find it disconcerting that so many of them are cycling either without helmets, or with helmets perched on top of their heads, with the straps dangling down. If they were to fall off their bikes, the helmets would go flying.

It may not be cool (I am guessing that that is the reason they are not wearing them) but it will certainly offer some protection if necessary. A study by Schwellnus and Derman in the SA Family Practice Journal in 2005 cited that the use of cycling helmets can reduce head injury by 85% and that wearing a hard shell cycling helmet was the most important measure for preventing acute injury.

And to come to one of my favourite bug bears - people have much the same attitude to wearing seat-belts in this country. Wearing of seat-belts was a non-negotiable for me when it came to my children, even though there were no laws in place at the time. They were placed into their seats and belts done up. The car was "not able to ride" if for any reason there happened to be a protest about being belted up. Having worked at a school for children with cerebral palsy and head injuries, as well as a hospital for spinal cord injuries, I had seen firsthand what the effects of being involved in a car accident could be, especially if no-one was wearing a belt. 

Even though wearing a seat-belt has now become law, I shudder to see the number of children, without seat-belts, sitting in the backseat in a position where they could be catapulted through the front window if the car should brake. And even worse, are the adults who hold babies on their laps in the front passenger seat!

A visit to the Arrive Alive website will show that wearing a seat-belt reduces the probability of being killed by 50% for drivers and front seat passengers and 25% of passengers in the rear seat. The risk of death for infants is 70% and for children aged 1-4 years, 50%. And consider this - 75% of vehicle occupants who are ejected from the vehicle (not being restrained by a seat belt) during a crash die, while only 5% of restrained occupants do. 

It is not worth taking the risk, even for that short trip down the road. I know. I have a nephew in his mid-20s whose life was irreversibly changed when he lost his leg from the hip after being tossed out of a car on the way to get takeouts one night two years ago. The 19-year-old driver was killed. No-one was wearing a seat-belt.

Driving Lessons

My daughter turned 17 earlier this year and getting her learner's licence is one of the highlights of her year. I find myself in one of those ambiguous parenting moments - where you realise with pride, that they are growing up but fear what the next stage brings. She is very excited at the prospect of soon being able to drive and as I drive around the neighbourhood I see more and more of her peers navigating the streets with the red capital letter L firmly stuck on the back window of their parents' cars. It is a big mark of independence and very exciting to be able to take yourself where you need to be.

Her boyfriend recently got his licence and he is raring to go. Which has posed new challenges in the parenting game - do I let her go off with an inexperienced driver, who is dying to show off his new skill? He has won many brownie points by saying that he did not think that he would let his daughter be driven by a newly-licensed driver. 

Wearing of seat belts has always been non-negotiable for me with my kids and they rarely protested at having to be put into a seat and be buckled up. As an occupational therapist I experienced the effects of head injuries as a result of motor vehicle accidents. In recent years we have had uncomfortably close experiences with serious, and fatal, car accidents involving young students. 

In South Africa, you can legally start to drink on the same day that you get your driver's licence!? I thought that this was peculiar to us, but after a quick research, discovered that except for the US, it is pretty much the standard. In the US you can get a driver's permit at age 16 but the legal drinking age is 21, which makes sense that they get to master the skill before they have licence to do anything stupid. Here, at the age of 18 when kids are in the last year of school and ready to prove their independence, they are given permission not only to get behind the wheel but also to go out on the town and party. This coupled with the fact that they think they are invincible, is a potent mix.We all know that it is not only up to how you drive and I think that SA drivers leave much to be desired. As for the taxi drivers...enough said.


When Sandra Bullock accepted her Oscar award earlier this year, she thanked her mom for "not letting her drive in cars with boys when she was 18" - you can call me Mrs. Bullock.