Safety basics: bicycles, scooters and skateboards

Here’s a list of safety basics for when your child is learning to ride bicycles, scooters and skateboards:

• Make sure your child rides a bicycle, scooter or skateboard that’s suitable for their age, size and ability.
• Wear a helmet. Helmets are compulsory for all children and adults when riding bikes in all Australian states and territories, and when riding scooters, skateboards and rollerblades in some states.
• Use protective gear like wrist guards, elbow pads and knee pads when riding a scooter, rollerblading or skateboarding.
• Dress your child in brightly coloured clothing. This helps riders, pedestrians and drivers see your child.
• Teach your child to look carefully at the riding environment to decide whether it’s safe to ride.
• Give your child some practice in a safe area, like your backyard or a park, before using a bike path or footpath.
• Always make sure a grown-up is with your child while they’re riding, until your child is old enough to ride safely and understand road rules.

Helmets: a safety essential

In all Australian states and territories, helmets are compulsory when riding bikes. In some states, helmets are also compulsory when riding skateboards, scooters, rollerblades and so on.

Wearing a helmet is always recommended when your child is riding any wheeled device, even if it isn’t required by law. A helmet is an essential part of protecting your child against serious head injuries.

Bike helmets must meet 1 of 6 mandatory standards. For information about these standards, visit ACCC Product Safety – Bicycle helmets mandatory standard.

Here are tips for finding the safest helmet for bikes and scooters:

• Take your child with you when buying a helmet to make sure it’s properly fitted.
• Do the ‘push test’ to make sure the helmet is a snug fit. If you can push the helmet backwards, forwards or sideways once you’ve done up the clips, it’s too big.
• Make sure the helmet isn’t damaged. For example, check that there are no cracks and that the foam liner is intact.
• Don’t buy a second-hand helmet – there’s no way of knowing if the previous owner has damaged it in an accident.
• Always replace helmets after an impact.

A skateboarding helmet should protect the back of your child’s head, so a bike helmet is the wrong shape for skateboarding. There’s no Australian Standard for skateboarding helmets. You can still use the tips above to get the right fit.

When your child is wearing a bike, scooter or skateboarding helmet, the chinstrap should always be firmly fastened and not twisted.

When children get off their bikes, scooters or skateboards, they should always remove their helmets. Helmets can be choking hazards if children are doing activities other than riding.

You can set a good example for your child by always wearing a helmet when you’re riding a bike, scooter or skateboard.

Bicycles: safety guidelines

Learning to ride
Be prepared to spend a lot of time with your child while they master the basic skills of balancing, steering and braking. Choose a flat, open space away from traffic, with a soft surface in case of falls.

Developing skills
When your child has learned the basics, your child needs time and practice to develop skills for riding safely on the street and in traffic. These skills are still developing until your child is about 12-13 years old. They include:

• controlling the bike on different road surfaces
• following road rules for both cyclists and drivers, like staying to the left, obeying road signs and giving way to pedestrians
• making the signals for turning and passing
• being aware of other riders, drivers and pedestrians and predicting what they’re going to do
• approaching driveways, laneways and intersections slowly and carefully
• passing parked vehicles slowly and carefully
• walking the bike across pedestrian crossings instead of riding across the street.

Extra riding lessons from a school-based bicycle education program can help your child develop these skills.

Bike size
A lot of injuries happen because a child is trying to ride a bike that’s too big.

Make sure your child’s first bike is the right size. You’ll know the bike is the right size if your child can straddle the bike and touch the ground with both feet at the same time. Your child will need to change to bigger bikes as they grow.

Bike condition checklist
It’s important to regularly check the condition of bikes, especially before use. To check that a bike is in good working order, make sure that it has:

• correctly working brakes
• a well-oiled chain that isn’t loose
• fully inflated and firm tyres, with no bald spots or patches
• pedals that spin freely and easily
• a clear bell or horn in good working order
• a clean and secure white light at the front
• a clean and secure red light and red reflector at the back
• a firm seat that’s adjusted to your child’s height
• handlebar grips and covered handlebar ends.

What to wear
Your child must wear:

• a properly fitted and firmly fastened bike helmet
• enclosed footwear to protect feet if they get caught in the spokes or chain or your child uses their feet as brakes
• brightly coloured clothing to help other riders, drivers and pedestrians see your child.

Where to ride
Bike paths are the best place for learning and practising, but in some states and territories, children up to a certain age and the adults supervising them can legally ride on footpaths. Check with your local council for information about your area.

If your child wants or needs to ride on footpaths and this is allowed in your area, make sure that your child:

• rides with you or another supervising adult
• watches for vehicles turning into and coming out of driveways and laneways
• cycles slowly and carefully around other people and dogs.

Things to avoid
Here are cycling situations to avoid:

• Wet weather – riding in wet weather needs different skills and extra caution. It’s best for your child to avoid this when they’re young and still learning bike safety basics.
• Night-time – your child shouldn’t ride at night. To ride at night, you need special equipment like lights and visibility vests. You also need good traffic awareness and understanding of driver behaviour.
• Stunt riding – behaviour like ‘look no hands’ and ‘dinking’ is dangerous.

Scooters: safety guidelines

Hospitals report many children arriving at emergency departments after falling off metal scooters. To minimise risk, follow these steps.

Scooter checklist
Check that the scooter has:

• good brakes – check the brakes regularly because they’ll wear down as they get older
• no sharp edges
• a steering column that locks easily, won’t collapse and isn’t too short for your child
• a bell or horn
• handlebar grips that don’t swivel
• a running board high off the ground
• anti-skid footboards.

Scooter lights are a legal requirement for night-time – a white light at the front, and a red light and red reflector at the back. But your child shouldn’t scoot at night.

What to wear
Your child should wear:

• a properly fitted and firmly fastened helmet
• knee and elbow pads
• wrist guards to protect against broken wrists.

Learning to scoot

• Supervise your child as they learn to use the scooter in a safe place, like a dual footpath/bike path, which is away from roads, driveways and steep slopes.
• Find out whether your local skate park offers scooter lessons.
• Supervise your child when they’re riding a scooter on the streets before judging whether they can scoot alone safely.
• Teach your child road safety rules.

Low-powered motorised scooters and eRideables
There are legal requirements for using low-powered motorised scooters or eRideables, and the requirements vary across Australian states and territories. It’s important to check the requirements with your state or territory road authority before letting your child use these devices.

Skateboards, rollerblades and rollerskates: safety guidelines

Safe falling
Teach your child how to fall in a safe way. It’s a good idea to give your child falling practice on a grassy patch before they go to the skate park.

Here are tips for falling safely:

• Bend your knees and get down low.
• Try to fall sideways, not backwards or head first.
• Try to land on your shoulder and roll.
• Fall onto your pads.
• Kick the board out from under your feet.

What to wear
Your child should wear:

• a properly fitted and firmly fastened skate helmet that protects the back of the head and sits just above the eyebrows
• wrist guards to protect against broken wrists
• elbow and knee pads
• enclosed footwear
• brightly coloured clothing.

Safety tips

• Make sure the skateboard, rollerblades or rollerskates are suited to your child’s size and the type of skating they do.
• Check and maintain the skateboard, rollerblades or roller skates regularly, especially the wheels.
• Don’t skate at night except in a well-lit skate park.
• Teach your child to skate within their limits. Complicated tricks take practice, so make sure your child builds up to them.

Where to skate, rollerblade or rollerskate

• Start your child off in your own backyard, in a park, on a bike path or at a skate park with beginner slopes.
• Discourage your child from skating, rollerblading or rollerskating on the footpath or road – they’re much more likely to have a crash near cars or pedestrians.
• Always supervise young children when they’re skating, rollerblading or rollerskating.