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Each year in New York State (NYS), Over 5,100 children ages 10 to 14 years are treated at a hospital because of a bicycle-related injury; 300 of them are injured severely enough to require hospitalization.
The good news is that you, as a parent or caregiver or bike rider, can play a major role in preventing bicycle-related injuries.
~ New York State Department of Health
From our Southold Police on duty on Fishers Island
The bicycle helmet law in New York is:
- The VTL says that no person older than 1 and under the age of 14, shall operate a bicycle without a helmet.
- This applies for ALL bikes, manually peddled and any electric bike.
- Helmets are required for skateboards, scooters, roller blades and roller skates as well.
- With regard to lighting, every bicycle being operated one-half hour after sunset to one half hour before sunrise must be equipped with a lamp on the front as well as reflective devices.
Some of the other reminders are:
- Bicyclists ride on the right side of the road with traffic.
- Bicyclists MUST learn and use hand signals.
- Bicyclists are required to obey all traffic control devices and rules of the road.
- If you are operating a bicycle at night – use a light. Since mostly it’s children on bikes, it’s important that parents explain these rules.
- All times of the day and night there are many children riding in front of Toppers. They are assuming they have the right of away, but they are very hard to see coming from behind cars and in the dark with no lights.
- Don’t use cell phones, headphones, earbuds, AirPods, and similar accessories while operating your bike.
- Be aware of pedestrians on roads and sidewalks.
- Be aware of all cars and drivers around you.
- Adults (and anyone over 14) can be role models by being smart and wearing helmets too.
In the end, parents and caregivers need to explain bike safety and the rules to their kids. They need to emphasize that there are distracted drivers on the road.
