They say that once you learn to ride a bicycle, you never forget how. But even after the training wheels come off, children still have a lot to learn. Youthful exuberance and inexperience leads to accidents and the inevitable injuries that follow. In fact, children age five through fourteen account for nearly half of all bicycle-related injuries each year. So when a child safety organization in Charlotte, North Carolina approached Ira Riklis for help in providing helmets for children, he was more than happy to help.
Traumatic head injuries often lead to concussions or death. The good news is that they can be prevented simply by wearing properly fitted helmets, the key words being “properly fitted.” The bad news? Less than one in four children wear such helmets. Concerned by these facts, Ira Riklis agreed to provide 5,000 helmets to be given free to any parent that brought their child in to be fitted on one beautiful spring weekend. He also stresses that helmets protect adults, too, and encourages everyone to visit this bicycle safety website.