Did you know that roughly 13,000 people die in Canada from preventable injuries? An even more staggering statistic: 1 child dies every 9 hours from injuries that could have been avoided. Now, it goes without saying that parents are very much concerned about the well-being of their children. We establish rules, set boundaries and watch over them whenever they are in our care. But every parent knows that injuries can occur. The yearly 3 million emergency room visits in Canada alone can attest to that.

Sometimes I wish I could put my children in a bubble to make sure they stay safe but that wouldn’t be very practical, now would it? Instead, I make every effort to be a role model for my children, especially when it comes to bicycle safety. What’s one of the first things that comes to mind when you prepare for a family bike ride? A helmet, right? We need to protect our most precious organ from any potential head injuries. But I tell my kids that wearing a helmet is not enough. Before we head out on the road, we make sure that our helmets fit properly. And each spring, we inspect our bikes to make sure the brakes are working and that the bikes are the right size for our children. This year, we had to buy a bigger bike for both my kids because their old ones were just too small. We also add a bell to our bike handles and last year, I purchased a rechargeable LED bike light for when I bike after dusk.

For the most part, our family sticks to routes in our immediate neighbourhood where there isn’t a lot of traffic. I feel it’s a good way to start training the kids to use hand signals and follow the rules of the road. But there are a lot of inclines in our area which makes it a bit of a challenge for my little guy. So sometimes we pack up our bikes in our minivan and either try a casual trail in the woods or head out to Sunnyside Bike Park in downtown Toronto near the Lakeshore. It is a family-friendly off-road cycling park that has a skills trail, pumptracks and, for the more adventurous, a variety of jump lines and wall ride. Of course, there are plenty of other options if off-ride biking is not quite your thing. Just be sure to read Parachute’s 7 Tips for Cycling Safety.

Preventable injuries KILL MORE CANADIAN CHILDREN than any single disease,

and more youth than all other causes combined.