Kids, Bikes and Cell Phones

One of the great moments of being a parent is teaching your child how to ride a “two-wheeler.” Who doesn’t remember feeling proud when your child finally mastered the skill and took off on his own? And the beaming face of your kid? We slowly introduced rules to them as we supervised their riding.

But now that we’re immersed in the technological age, bike riding has become a little more challenging. I’ve seen young kids on bikes talking on cell phones (and, surprise, surprise, they weren’t wearing helmets). One sped off the Prairie Path in Elmhurst, didn’t even look for cars as he hit the street, and rode fast as the wind while talking on the phone. Another was weaving in and out on a street that had multiple parked cars, and the third was riding very slowly while weaving on a sidewalk. All were boys under the age of 13.

I get that parents want their kids to have their cell phones on them when they’re away from the house. It’s a great communication tool. It becomes a problem when kids think it’s OK to talk on the phone while pedaling.

I challenge any adult to try riding a bike while talking on the phone. It might work OK if you’re going in a straight line and there are no obstacles or traffic, but it’s definitely a balancing act since the bike can only be controlled with one hand. The visual scanning that’s so important for a bike rider’s safety will probably decrease once the rider starts listening to and talking into the cell phone. The less experienced a rider is, the slower she may go when trying to multi-task while riding. Not unexpectedly, most children will have more trouble with this than adults do.

If your child has a cell phone and a bike, it’s time to review the proper protocol with him or her. Do you want your child talking on the phone while riding a bike through the streets or sidewalks or paths of town? Does your child know what to do if his cell phone rings while he’s on his bike? Can you, as the parent, not panic if your child doesn’t answer the phone the first time you call? How quickly do you expect your call to be returned? Work with your child to set up some reasonable rules. Walk through some possible scenarios. It’s pretty easy to pull over to make or answer—or return—a  phone call when on a bike. I hope parents will take the time to teach our kids that this is the expectation.

Of course, you may be required to do more than help set the rules for your family.

For some reason, kids always want to be just like the grown-ups. Most moms and dads talk on their cell phones when driving their cars, so be prepared to answer your children’s questions about why it’s OK for you to do that while they’re supposed to refrain from it. And while you’re at it, you might want to address texting and driving—oops! I mean riding—too.