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CNN Sunday Morning
Interview With Carol Ball
Aired July 14, 2002 - 10:18 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: When your children hit the road on their bikes, are they as safe as they can be? That is, are they wearing helmets?
A new study finds fewer than one in six children -- one in six -- wear helmets when riding bikes or scooters. Twenty-six percent of those who do use them wear them incorrectly, defeating the whole purpose. The study also found bike accidents result in 500,000 trips to emergency rooms each year and more than 700 deaths.
Joining us now to talk about this subject is Carol Ball. She is the executive director of SAFE KIDS of Georgia, a group that played a key role in passing a state helmet law in 1993. And, also, Amanda Bersler (ph), 6 years old, a biker and helmet wearer.
Good to have you both with us.
CAROL BALL, SAFE KIDS OF GEORGIA: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Carol, first of all, I -- those numbers surprise me quite a bit because just anecdotally my kids, all their friends -- they all wear helmet. It's just part of the routine. Is that not really what's going on out there?
BALL: That's really not what's going on. I think if you look through most neighborhoods, when you watch children riding bikes, you rarely see them wearing helmets. So I'm glad to hear that at least in your neighborhood it is the norm.
O'BRIEN: Well, I guess, we're tough. We're tough.
BALL: That's right.
O'BRIEN: You know, most of us grew up riding bikes without helmets, and so it probably doesn't occur to a lot of parents that this is an important thing. After all, we all made it just fine.
BALL: Exactly. Most people don't understand that unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death to children, and helmets, when they're worn correctly, can be over 85-percent effective in reducing traumatic brain injury, which can change not only the life of a child but also the life of a family.
O'BRIEN: And, you know, when you think about a scooter or bicycle and a young child, you generally don't think of a lot of speed necessarily being involved, and so perhaps you have a sense that it's safe and OK. Not necessarily so?
BALL: Not necessarily so. And I think lots of times, with the kids as well as the parents, they just think about the child on the bike. They don't think about the fact they're going to be out there with cars, trucks, that type of thing. And, in many cases, it's the -- when the child and the car meet, that's where you have the problem.
O'BRIEN: Tell us about the legislation. We just said that, in Georgia, there are laws requiring this. What about other states?
BALL: There are about 37 other states that also have helmet legislation. Ours requires children under the age of 16 to wear a helmet when they're out on paved roads, bikeways, pathways, that type of thing.
O'BRIEN: But is there a lot of enforcement of it?
BALL: No. And that's part of the problem, but really a lot of the enforcement can come from Mom and Dad at home. In a survey done by the National SAFE KIDS campaign, they actually found in about 50 percent of the kind of tweenagers that they surveyed, if Mom and Dad had a tough rule about wearing the helmet, they'd be more likely to wear their helmet.
O'BRIEN: All right. Now the moment we've been waiting for. I don't think we have a drum roll, but, Amanda, you are now charged with putting on your helmet, and we're going to talk about the dos and don'ts for putting on a helmet. So go ahead and show us how you put on your helmet.
So far, so good. We got the front way the front way. And the straps. You've got to get those organized. All right.
BALL: That's one thing. Lots of times, people have them on backwards.
O'BRIEN: Yeah. No. Seriously. It's easy to do. All right. Strap it in. Come on. Put it together. You've got to do the whole now, Amanda. Can you reach that? Can you get it? It's got to be kind of tight, right? Can you reach that? Do you want some help with it? All right.
BALL: There. Let me help you.
O'BRIEN: We can give you -- we can give you help strapping it together. Oh, you know what? Yeah, you had the other piece the wrong way.
All right. Now, Carol, how did she do? That looks pretty good to me. It's got to be down kind of low on the forehead, right?
BALL: Right. The thing to remember -- you need it sturdy, level, and stable. And snug. So this is...
O'BRIEN: That is snug. You know, a lot of kids...
BALL: So this is pretty snug on Amanda's head.
O'BRIEN: ... loosen this up because it kind -- until they get used to it, that can be kind of restraining.
BALL: Right. And probably what we need to do is adjust it over a little bit because we want the straps coming down right below Amanda's ear, so we need to...
O'BRIEN: Oh, I see. Yes. This...
BALL: ... adjust this little black clip up.
O'BRIEN: So Mom and Dad have to help with the strap adjustment.
BALL: Right. And then the other thing is, when it's buckled under the chin, you really only want to be able to get about one finger...
O'BRIEN: One finger.
BALL: Right. Another good test is what we call the eye, mouth, and ear check. If Amanda were to look up, she'd need to be able to see a little bit of the edge of the helmet.
O'BRIEN: Do you? Do you see a little edge of the helmet, Amanda?
BALL: Do you see some of it? OK. That's good.
O'BRIEN: Good, good.
BALL: The straps would need to be coming right down below the ear, and...
O'BRIEN: Right. Got to work on that.
BALL: ... then if we had snug enough, when she opened her mouth, she'd be able to feel the helmet snug down on her head.
O'BRIEN: There you go.
BALL: So we can work on this to get it where it fits Amanda a little bit better.
O'BRIEN: All right. So we're going to give Amanda an A, and her parents are going to have to do a little work on the strap, I think.
BALL: Right. We can work on that.
O'BRIEN: They're off in the wings there. They're looking a little blue now about that. But that's all right. We've learned some good lessons there. And Amanda would prefer a blue helmet, by the way, Mom and Dad. So -- anyway, thank you very much, Amanda. Happy and safe cycling. And always wear that helmet. You always wear it, right?
AMANDA BERSLER (ph), 6-YEAR-OLD: When I go biking.
O'BRIEN: When you go biking. Good deal.
BALL: OK. Good.
O'BRIEN: All right. Well, Carol Ball and Amanda Bersler (ph) -- hello. Sorry about all that. Thank you very much, all of you, for being with us and talking about helmets and safety, and we invite you to stay safe as you ride your bike.
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