Of course you want your child to not only enjoy their beach cruiser and enjoy the exercise in the outdoors that it offers, but you also want your child to also stay safe while on a beach cruiser bike. When you travel with your child on your own beach cruiser bike, you can easily keep tabs on how your child is doing in following safety rules. However, when your child rides off with friends, determining whether or not your child is practicing common sense is not always easy. Experts agree that there are many things that parents can do to ensure that their children ride safe:

1) Teach your child the basic rules of riding a beach cruiser safely. Practice riding with your child and teach them all the safety tips and road rules that they need to know.

2) Be sure to practice what you preach. If you teach your child all the proper rules of riding a beach cruiser bicycle, but then you ride your own beach cruiser unsafely, your child will feel justified in taking shortcuts when it comes to their personal safety, too. Be a good example of beach cruiser safety yourself.

3) Let your child select the helmet that they will wear on their beach cruiser bicycle. Consider having the helmet customized with decals or stickers, or do whatever else it takes to make your child enthusiastic about the helmet and interested in wearing the helmet themselves. Make sure that you practice with your child so that the child can easily and quickly put on and take off the helmet themselves.

4) Institute a rule that your child must wear a helmet at all times in order to ride the beach cruiser. Take away beach cruiser privileges if the child fails to follow this or other safety rules.

5) Praise your child for following proper beach cruiser safety rules.

6) If you are friends with your child's friends’ parents, encouraged the other parents to buy helmets for their children as well. Not only will it make all children in the neighborhood safer, but it will help made helmets acceptable among your children’s peers.

7) Consider teaching your child basic first aid -- this is especially appropriate if your child is older -- so that your child will know what to do if he or she is in an accident. Basic St. John's Ambulance courses for kids are available at most community centers, and can help your child know what to do in case of emergency.

8) Encourage your child to report any accidents or injuries -- even minor ones -- to you.