Basically the title says it all. The past month I have witnessed some horrifying bicycle accounts of younger children. New Hampshire just passed a law stating all children under the age of 16 are required to wear helmets when cycling.

A few weeks ago my father was coming home from work and a young child; I believe 6 years old was on his bicycle, unattended may I add. Without looking out at the road before crossing the child rode into the road and my father unsuspectly struck the child. Lucky the child only came out with a mild head injury and a few broken bones. First off the child was unattended in an area he was not familiar with; as we learned later he was visiting his grandmother and was not from the area. The child was also not wearing a helmet! Six years old and not wearing a helmet just makes me wonder about the parenting of this child and how he has not been properly educated on bicycle safety.

Yesterday, I was out biking around town. I was biking in a relatively busy area, the shoulder was particularly wide, and nevertheless the speed limit was 50 mph. I approached a child between 8-12 years old, who wasn't wearing a helmet and even more shocking, he was on a cell phone. Not only did he not wearing a helmet and he having a cell phone make me feel not at ease but he wasn't really cycling that straight where he would be swerving side to side of the shoulder.

Basically what I am arguing and im sorry if this thread has come up before, is that children are not being taught the cycling safety rules that are necessary to remain out of harm.