Your child's first beach cruiser bike is about a lot more then just having a bicycle to get from point A to point B. For a child, a beach cruiser bicycle is often their first taste of freedom. Beach cruisers can create a lifetime of happy childhood memories and can also encourage your child to exercise outdoors more. However, in order for this experience to remain completely positive, you must ensure that your child is able to use their beach cruiser bike safely and responsibly, to reduce the possibility of accidents and injury.
Before you buy your child a beach cruiser, make sure that your child is competent on a bicycle and is able to ride a beach cruiser safely. At minimum, your child should be able to stop the bicycle rapidly using the brakes. You child should also be able to ride the bicycle without wobbling and without losing balance. Finally, your child should be familiar with all the safety rules of the road.
The best way to get your child to get used riding a beach cruiser bicycle is to practice riding the cruiser on a flat surface where there are no cars. Teach your child to brake by slowing down, stopping, and dismounting the bicycle. Practice this until the child can do this both quickly and slowly without falling. Make sure that the child practices emergency braking, or sudden stops. Make sure that your child practices riding in a straight line, with no wobbling. Also ensure that your child is able to ride in a straight line near the curb. A good way to practice is to ride the bike in a figure 8 pattern on a flat surface. This will improve your child's bicycle skills and will make ready for their first beach cruiser.
Another important step to keeping your child's safe is to use helmets. Even on a bicycle such as a beach cruiser, which is generally very stable and discourages higher speeds, helmets are important. Some research has suggested that proper use of bicycle helmets can reduce head injuries up to 85%. It is important to remember that even a child going at low speeds on a flat surface on a beach cruiser can still sustain serious injury, so it is important that your child wear a helmet even on short, seemingly safe outings.
In order to offer full protection, it is important that a helmet fit correctly. The helmet must not cut off the child field of vision, and should fit snugly on top of the head. Look for a helmet that comes with adjustable padding, as this allows an even better fit. Helmets that fit properly allow for about two finger widths above the eyebrows. The chin straps form a “v” and this “v” should come together immediately below the ear lobe. The chin straps should fit snugly, so that you are able to fit just one finger between the chin strap and the chin. The chin strap should not allow the helmet to fall from the head, even with twisting, turning, and pulling. You should always encourage your child to have the chin strap properly fitted every time they go out. The helmet is simply not effective without the chin strap firmly buckled. When your child is trying on bicycle helmets, have the child shake their head forward and back violently. The helmet should not shift at all.
It is best to buy a new helmet, since helmets are no longer effective after they've been involved in an accident. In many cases, helmets that have been in an accident or have been roughly mishandled may simply not provide the protection of a new helmet.
